Hatred Knows No Bounds
by CrimsonAccent
Summary: Instead of Itachi attacking Sasuke at the inn he grabbed Naruto and ran. Under Itachi's and the rest of the Akatsuki's teachings Naruto's learned to hate, and he's set that hate on the place that hates him most, Konoha. Dark Naruto.
1. Run like hell, idiot

First of all, I couldn't have written this at all if it wasn't for SaphireWhiteWolf; she generously donated not only this plot bunny, but another. I've decided to keep the titles and summaries she made. Go check out her fic Music of Emotions if you want humor, lemons, Akatsuki, and ItaNaru.

Note: Nezumi means rat

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Naruto (yet!). The original idea was Saph's, but any variations I make are mine.

Chapter 1: Run like hell, Idiot.

Knock. Knock.

The sound reverberated around the room. And it was a simple room indeed, wooden floorboards that had seen many years, but were solid, clean and hard covered the floor. Two white futon lay empty on the far side of the room, near a large window. The blinds were closed, blocking the bright sunlight.

Naruto heard the echo and scowled. First that lazy sage had gone to the sleaziest part of town, the red light district; all the strippers, prostitutes, or "entertainers" and "exotic dancers" as others called them in polite conversation, made their dirty work there. The blond's eyebrow twitched at the thought. _Jerk! Why the hell would he ditch me for some strippers?!_ That did not sit well with him. _At all_. In fact, it kind of pissed him off.

"Ero-sennin" as the twelve year old had dubbed him stole his frog wallet "gama-chan" and emptied its contents quickly. All his money in the world was gone; he could never trust anyone else to hold his money. And all for some alcohol and a good time. "I thought _"sannin"_ were supposed to be rich." he muttered, kicking the older man's futon spitefully. Naruto said Jiraiya's title as if it were a curse. Or something dirty.

But with Jiraiya, renowned for his perverseness, was there really any difference?

Then he had the nerve to leave him in the early morning, while the blond was still recovering from his training. Rasengan was pretty damn hard. The genin had to complete only the final and most vexing step. His frustration was mounting.

Needless to say, Uzumaki Naruto was not happy.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming." The stressed ninja grumbled. The genin got up and rubbed his eyes, still not quite awake. He yawned and stretched before reluctantly trudging over to the door, still in his sleep wear. Minus his goofy cap. It lay on the floor.

Naruto fumbled with the latch and slid the wooden door open. His remark of "Hey, you aren't Ero-sennin!" died in his throat.

A stone hit him, or something. He wasn't quite sure how to explain it, but his stomach dropped.

He looked up to a very intimidating presence. It was like Sasuke...but dark. An older version of his Uchiha teammate gone very nightmarish. He just exuded this presence...an aura of eerie calm and scary power. He was covered in a black cloak patterned with red clouds. All that was visible were his hands, sandal-ed feet, and his blank face.

But that didn't matter. It was those eyes. They unnerved him. Naruto desperately wanted to look away, but they were like a black hole sucking him in. An unending abyss from which he could never escape.

Though he didn't know it, those inky orbs had already captured his soul. And it wasn't about to be returned.

It made him shiver, none-the-less. It was like someone had walked over his grave.

Still frozen, azure eyes swimming with uncertainty, confusion, and fear, he barely registered the look-a-like's words. "Hello Naruto-kun... It would be better if you come peacefully." He said it softly, almost with a mocking kindness. Arrogance lay there.

But it was well justified. Even after only staring at them for five seconds, he knew he was miles out of their league.

"Heh, can't we just cut his legs off, it would be a lot easier, Itachi." Came a rough male voice.

Naruto had been so captivated by the familiar stranger he hadn't noticed his taller hulking partner behind him. His grin revealed a mouth of shark's teeth and his skin was a curious shade of light blue. The handle of a sword stuck out over his back. He would have been more unnerved if some part of him wasn't crawling with horror at Sasuke's look-a-like. After that, though freaky, the shark-man wasn't as impressive.

Then comprehension dawned. This must be Sasuke's older brother without a doubt; the man his best friend had sworn to kill. And the duo were trying a kidnap him for unknown reasons, and if he were to judge by the taller man's words, were prepared to use force and didn't seem to care much if he arrived perfectly fine, healthy and uninjured, or unconscious and crippled. If Sasuke wanted to kill his brother, than he couldn't be a good person; Sasuke was broody and a jerk, but not crazy.

That was even more of a reason not to go.

_D… D-Dammit._ Naruto didn't know why he cussed. It wasn't like it could help him. But it made him feel better, and abated his fear for a moment.

But despite that, he continued to gape, acting like a statue. He made the mistake of glancing up again; those eyes were staring at him! His fear returned ten-fold. Resist, run, anything! _I can't just stand here_ _like a helpless rabbit! _The boy's limbs betrayed him though, refusing to move. It was as if his brain had disconnected from the rest of his body.

"Heh, this is too easy Itachi-san. The gaki is like a rat cornered by a snake!" the Shark-man chuckled.

"I'm sure we are rather intimidating to a simple genin, Kisame."

Kisame rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I'm just disappointed we didn't get a little more action. I was expecting to have a little more fun when we went after the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

_They know what I am?_

The shock of it stirred a little more life into his dead limbs. Concentrating fiercely, he assessed the situation at lightning speed. Obviously escape was the only option. Charging through the door wasn't a viable choice; he was blocked off by the two of them. All he had was the window. But would he have enough time? He shoved away the doubt in his mind. _I have to do _something! Gathering what was left of his smashed nerve, he attempted to leap back and crash through the window.

But Itachi was just quicker. Before he had even sprung back, his wrist was in a vice grip. Panicking, Naruto's natural reaction was to look up. His head jerked straight up, and he met crimson eyes; pools of blood, with hypnotic black swirls whirling.

The genin's breath hitched, and then he was aware of nothing. Blackness... a terrible emptiness encroached on his senses.

---

Fire crackled. It was rather ominous. Shadows cast by the light flickered in and out of existence. He could hear it; feel the heat it gave off. But the warmth gave Naruto little comfort. His eyes remained tightly shut. He couldn't remember anything. It was like a giant block existed that cut him off from his memories.

What? Why was he here? What was going on?

As the cliché went it all came rushing back into his mind like a strong swift river.

Or not.

He was groggy, didn't know where he was, and felt like he was waking up in a hospital after being clubbed on the head.

Naruto bit back a groan of pain, instinctively knowing this was neither the time nor place. His stomach ached from anger. How long had it been since he last ate? Morning? Slowly he retraced his steps. Traveling with Jiraiya...learning the Rasengan…Passing out in exhaustion...collapsing into a soft futon in the cheap hotel room...the smell of salt and ash...

Itachi and Kisame! Those two had said they were gonna capture him, and _I was knocked out. _

If it wouldn't have given him away, the genin would have kicked himself at the realization. _How could I have been so stupid?!_ All angry thoughts directed at Jiraiya were swept away at his self disgust.

Now knowing the full extent of his situation, the blond thanked his sixth sense for warning him. If he had revealed himself by moving, they would know he was awake. That would have spelled all kinds of trouble. Naruto racked his brains. What was the first priority when captured by enemy ninja? _I can't spill any secrets, duh! And I have to escape, _he mentally shuddered at what they might want from him; images of bloody knives and iron hot pokers blossomed in his mind, and what they might do to get it,_ but how? Those guys are nuts! _

It was rare he respected an opponent in battle. For to do that, Naruto had to admit he was weaker.

This surpassed mere respect. This was _fear._

It was scary to think of how small he was; insignificant and even pathetic compared to the duo.

He recalled how Itachi had easily thwarted his pathetic excuse of an escape. _What a sorry excuse for a genin I am._ The genin knew he needed a much better plan. _But enough with self pity._ It never got him anywhere.

So Naruto concentrated fiercely, and started to think. His thoughts were mulish and hard to work with, perhaps a product of hunger and excitement? Eventually his brain warmed up, and though the shock remained, it dulled to the point where it didn't obstruct his thinking.

_First, I gotta find out how they have me secured. And just where the heck am I?_

Cautiously, for he could hear what might have been breathing extremely close to his position, he tried to see if he could move his legs or arms.

Immediately, a stinging sensation erupted on his bare forearms. It took all his self-control to keep his mouth shut. He wanted to give a shout! The painful restraints completely took him off guard. His arms were bound to his side, and whatever it was hurt like a bitch if he struggled against it. He felt like barb wire was digging into him, tightening painfully. When he tried to move his legs, it was to no avail, but thankfully it seemed to be normal rope, not the strange metallic cord that was sharply biting his skin. _Damn!_ Even if he was near friendly territory, he couldn't make a noise, because that would alert his captors. It was impossible for him to do so anyway, a gag was around his mouth.

"Looks like our little guest is awake." He jerked. "Hey, did you hear that, _nezumi_?" Kisame taunted.

It was the shark man! He cursed himself for giving away the game. What had the blond done that was so obvious?

As if reading his mind, Itachi, the one the scared him more, answered. "Your breathing pattern changes once you are awake."

Damn. So his body had given him away.

If he could, he would have fled. Naruto had pride, ego, and courage. It might have seemed sudden... But he also had the will to live. The blond was not foolish enough to think he would escape this alive. Not when they could tell he was awake merely by his breathing patterns! Naruto was severely outclassed. The enormity of his predicament was obvious, even to him. So he tried to buy some time. He had lots of questions he wanted to have answers to anyway. And there were lots of things he never wanted to know.

Unfortunately, the gag was a bit of a downer for conversation.

These were criminals, he knew that much. Naruto had seen the slash through Itachi's hiate. It was a symbol of loyalty to one's village, and to desecrate the headband in such away...Itachi was a rouge shinobi, holding loyalty to no one. He was a criminal, and responsible for the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. _To kill so many people…_ Naruto didn't understand what a baby could have done to offend him in such a manner. The blond, not well liked for obvious reasons, had been skulking around and not only heard the rumors flying on the wind, but seen the bodies. Naruto had suffered nightmares for weeks; visions of torn corpses, twisted bodies…It was hard for a young mind to handle. He could not understand such twisted logic. Only his younger brother was spared from death. _But why?_

The genin knew nothing personally about Kisame except for his intimidating leer, but if he was associating with a traitor and mass murderer, he couldn't be running a charity.

So if he was a bit surprised when they set a bowl of soup in front of him and undid his restraints partially, it was understandable.

Naruto shook his arms, feeling slowly coming as blood flowed to the clumsy limbs. The gag was gone as well for obvious reasons. Did they want him to eat the soup? Was it drugged? The two partners in crime clearly weren't letting him go as his legs were still tied together. _No chance of me running away, anyway,_ he thought bitterly looking at his surroundings,_ there's nowhere to go._

The smokeless fire still burned. No comforting trees were visible to him. Only wildly reaching black arms overhead, blocking out the sky, stars and moon. The forest here was grim, not light and protective as Konoha's sturdy trees grew. The creatures here had hard bark colored onyx, stained by white sap oozing from violent gashes. Something or someone had tried to tear the eerie trees apart. They hadn't completely succeeded, but the damage, testament to their efforts, remained. Some spots had dried over, like freshly healed wounds. The feel was oppressive and the looks of prisoners, not guardians.

Outside the small cage of trees lay a plain. An endless sea of grass for miles and miles. He couldn't see the end of it. It was dizzying how large it was-and he was merely on the edge of it.

Itachi and Kisame just sat there, casual as can be, watching him. He didn't like their eyes on him. Both were sharp and calculating. Did they want him to jump through hoops or something?

"Eat; we don't want you to be starved." Came Itachi's quiet detached voice.

Of course. We just kidnapped you and are taking you hundreds of miles away just to fuck with your head. Not like actual torture was gonna be involved. Just a mean, kind of cruel, joke, ya know?

Naruto glared suspiciously at the soup. The order given was one he didn't want to follow. For clearly, it wasn't a request. Nothing was in a situation like this.

Sighing, acting as if Naruto was just a stubborn child refusing to take his medicine, Sasuke's brother took a spoon and swallowed a bit of soup himself. The shark man chuckled at the spectacle. "What's wrong, little rat? It's not poisoned you know." The reprimand annoyed him.

Resignedly he stared at the steaming bowl. Oh well, it's not like he had anything else to do. _What am I gonna do? Hope some crazy lady with big knockers and super strength comes barreling in to save me?_

_---_

Word count:_2,039 _-not counting this bottom part

Time:Two days on and off, probably..three to four hours total?

Yay! This story will not be a typical 'Naruto instantly joins Akatsuki, and instantly remembers being beat to death so he hates Konoha and wants to destroy her in half a chapter'. I don't have a set update, but will try not to take longer than a week. Summer is almost here! It's the first thing I've posted, but I think I did pretty decent with it.

You don't have to review, but I would appreciate feedback. I enjoyed writing the last line, and him waking up. Sorry if the page break fails to appear.

Once again: A big thanks to SaphireWhiteWolf, she gave me the summary, idea, and title! Go check out her story Music of Emotions if you are a ItaNaru fan, or just enjoy a good laugh.

Story I am currently promoting: Namida no Tenshi 93's Shadow Tenshi Acadamy. The title maybe changing sometime in the near future.

And: Holy shit!!!! Have you read Naruto 449?! **SPOILER! **Everyone has been revived!! All the Kakashi's death deniers should be pleased

**Edit:** Took out the thought/speech key. I added in more details, mainly what Naruto was thinking or expanding upon certain lines of thought. Fixed a few grammar and spelling errors and awkward sentences. Fixed the page breaks. Added note Word count is now _2,445._ Happy New Year!12/31/09


	2. Mercy Games, Thank the Gods, fool

As it so happens, I was just making chocolate chip cookies as I was typing this. So, I would like to hand out to all those who reviewed, alerted, or favorited my story!

Reviewers:littlesnowfarie2005, Sparky-kun, blueberry, and dragonfire04

Alerts:littlesnowfarie2005, Rajani Devi Lakshmi, Sparky-kun,dragonfire04,dragaman, beta657, Angel-Mogamishi, and Day of mourning

Fave's:iamalex117

Thank you!!! Oh, and a plushy littlesnowfarie2005 for being my first reviewer!!

I've kind of noticed a small trend in the chapters so far, let's see who'll spot it.

Little Note:I did alter the summary slightly because of the character count. Just 'on the retrieve Tsunade mission' was basically taken out.

Chapter 2: Mercy Games, Thank the God's, fool.

(pppppppppppaaaaaaageeeebrrrrrrrrrrrrreaaaaaaaaaaaaaak)

Of course, it was all to good to be true. He of all people should have known that: people lied all the time. For the sake of convenience, petty laziness, or just to be spiteful. This crossed a line of mean into cruel. Why should he be so surprised?..It wasn't like he had ever cared anyway.

Also what was never understood was the hot salty trails running down his face, and hitting the ground.

He never liked life anyway.

(whysosad?whysosad?whysosad?)

A bird trilled. Not the normal kind though. It was rough and low, like his sword, Samehade, scraping against the bark of one of these trees. Only this particular kind mimicked the effect of the eerie song. No other wood could produce that noise, pitch, or tone.

His favorite sound in the world.

Even more than blood spilling, a red river of death pouring from someones chest, the frantic pumps of the heart making it only worse..Or flesh being shaved off by the scales of his blade..Screams..

Okay, screams just didn't do it for him. Kisame didn't get why Kakuzu was so into it. It just ruined the whole harmonious moment. It interrupted the music. If he was Itachi trying to explain it in his weird 'I don't speak in anything but monosyllables unless I'm trying to fuck up my favorite little brother's psyche', the former swordsman probably would have said something weird like "You fractured the glass that separates the murderous melody from a simple peasant".

Actually, that made it worse. Kisame grinned at his partner's strangeness; but for all his peculiarity's he thankfully enjoyed the silence during a heinous act as much as he did. Itachi was quiet about everything he did.

Hearing a faint 'eep', he glanced to his left; Itachi was on that side as always, but it was the nezumi between them that had let out the noise. Kisame made a face of amusement at their prisoner, probably freaking him out worse. _Doesn't like shark teeth I guess._ He smiled wider. "Got something to say?"

The unconventional arrangement was laid out by Itachi. He for some unfathomable reason had suggested it. Although the ex-mist nin didn't always understand everything his partner did, Kisame knew the logic behind his actions better than most.

Responsible for over twenty deaths, all of them family members, Itachi was bathed in the dark; he was as people dare whispered "as sick as they come" and enjoyed mind games. Kisame was no fool. Itachi was a maverick and also a paradox. Like a cat, he toyed with his prey, once committed, enjoying the game, or perhaps playing to stave off boredom. But he disliked fighting unless necessary and avoided confrontation and inflicting pain if possible.

The boy was being sent off the a long drawn out death that would be heavy with pain. Like a hot summer day it would seem to never end, the heat sapping away your energy. Will disappearing with the wind. Better to let him enjoy his days as much as possible.

He knew what they were bestowing upon the urchin.

Innocent men, women, and children had begged for it. Elderly prayed to an unseen god. Wanting something they could not give. Or perhaps they had forgotten. But Kisame knew. Why no one ever got it.

Because they never learned.

The kid had to be special. That must be the reason. Or maybe they were slipping? Had he been cracking under the stress. Nezumi better know what he was receiving was priceless.

Mercy.

Not being able to control himself, he chuckled. Then seeing the look on the kid's face (a sour fish eater)the damn broke. Hoshigaki Kisame laughed with derisive mirth. _Could the irony ever end?!_

Itachi gave him a sideways look. "Hush." Before he could even say why the answer presented itself. Itachi didn't waste words and rarely did he stoop out from inside his oceanic world for something as lowly as slight irritation. The presence he felt coming closer indicated as reason to shut up too.

Instantly things changed. Kisame was fully serious, any sign of earlier amusement gone. Everyone was on full alert. He could sense without looking that even the little rat had wised up and gave no protest in light of the situation as he was now on Itachi's back. The brat was unable to run anyway, bound to the Uchiha's wrist. All Itachi needed was his eyes. He wouldn't be hindered by one preoccupied hand.

Kisame read Itachi's lips and saw the "Get down." He hissed into the blond's ear. Complying he tightened his grip, locking himself around the raven's neck, and hunched down, but he didn't look particularly pleased.

Odd Itachi decided not to flee. But Kisame didn't argue. Who was to look the gift horse in the mouth. They had the Jinchuuriki in tow, the most powerful one at that, no one had fatal injuries, and they were a couple of days from the base. Now they would be free to go after his assigned beast, the Yonbi, now that the Kyuubi had been taken care of. A little action was more than welcome. He wasn't overestimating the pursuer, but Kisame wasn't an S-ranked criminal for nothing. None but the most behemoth of chakra pools could rival his, and Itachi had become an Anbu captain at age 13.

They were fresh. At half power they could take a team of Jounin on, and more than likely get away. Like this?

Whoever they were was more than likely toast. Even a daunting sannin couldn't beat them. He knew they were scattered, and individually, weaker. Jiraiya was alone, but searching for Tsunade; her fear of blood would keep her from battle. Orochimaru dare not show his face here.

It was a single person. Kisame bet even a kage would have trouble. Outnumbered, and probably tired from pursuit.

So when a dragon came out he was floored. "Pretty surprised" quiet cover it. Neither did "exceed's expectations." A legendary creature. To see one and come out alive..unusually rare at best.

The snake-like body stretched out seventeen feet from snout to tail tip. The body itself was covered with scales the color of whitish smoke, and about eight feet. It's tail swung slowly, six feet, with a nasty barb at the end. Intelligent silver eyes stared him down.

He didn't dare breath.

Wings that could spread to what he guessed was a span of twenty feet remained half-folded on it's back. The claws..no they were similar to talons, but still as dangerous as claws, while not stained, still could soon be. For now, they were dark grey. Two horns grew back from in between but slightly above the eyes. Those were black, and straight, no curve.

Those eyes held him.

The dragon was only five feet away (seven from Itachi, who was further back). It didn't move, only stared. All four limbs were on the ground. The dragon's face was level with his.

Silence around him in the plain.

Complete silence.

No roosh of the grass as the wind blew, scurrying of small creatures. A lack of birds overhead. They had left the trees several hours ago, into an openness that made the idea of cramped villages silly. All of that was gone. His heart beat seemed too loud.

Minutes passed. He wasn't aware of it. Perhaps hours had gone by, and he wouldn't have noticed. Kisame, for once in his life knew, he was in the presence of something truly great. Even his thoughts seemed to stop. The shark man was in such awe, he was in a stupor. A demon could ravage him, the world could end and he wouldn't notice; it didn't matter.

Finally, the dragon seemed to sense something. Or perhaps the time for such games was at an end. It seemed to melt away, dissolving into the wind. Had it turned invisible, using magic? Moments later it reappeared as a shrinking black speck in the grey sky.

(wowthatcameoutofnowhere!butithoughtitwasprettydamncool)

From there, the trio had travelled at a jog. No longer a leisurely walking pace. Fear wasn't what inspired them, but something none of them could identify did. For a while, though none would admit it, they were shaken from the encounter and all but fled. It was like pass the hot potato while playing Chinese freeze tag. But you did not want to be it.

Naruto was exchanged between the two of them at random intervals. No stopping for a late lunch. Several hours passed this way. Ever since Itachi's warning it had been all business, no more laughs or jokes. The atmosphere was admittedly dampened, and rather tense.

The small creatures that lived in the plains started to appear once more gradually. It seemed word had spread that it was now safe as it ever was to come out. Rats and field mice scurried in and out of borrows and nibbled on grass and seed. Snakes slithered across the grassy sea in pursuit of prey and hawks and falcons patrolled the sky in the same effort.

The sun never emerged, but the wind did pick up, masking some of the animals sounds. An annoying whistling began to sound in everyone's ear. High pitched and unavoidable. Kisame privately wanted to find the cause of it and dispose of the source. Images of what his imaginary enemy would look like as his newest victim kept him busy for an hour or so.

The whistle was keening and an unwelcome constant. All day as they travelled it would fade then crescendo. Waxing and waning with no real purpose. And no pattern. It thwarted all attempts to attach logic to it. But never was it a whine. Unlike a mosquito in your ear this was like striking glass with metal or a bird. Just maddening.

Eventually, an half hour after sunset, drenching them immediately into darkness, they stopped. Once again the stars and everything in the sky wasn't visible. Last night had been clear but the skulking trees overhead had blocked any sign of the moon out. Now the clouds which had been present all day thickened and a fog descended upon them.

Pulling a branch from his cloak (Kisame had no clue where) Itachi wordlessly started the fire. Words weren't necessary when you were familiar enough with a jutsu. More merry than the night before, but anything but happily, it burned. The fire did it's designed purpose wonderfully, provided light with which to see and gave off warmth. But the poor thing couldn't provide ease for the mind nor comfort.

A piece of wood snapped in the blaze.

Sensing no mood for chatter, Kisame pulled out a trout from his cloak (why people thought he didn't like fish he just didn't understand) from..well that's a secret. No member gave away exactly how they stashed things and then retrieved them. He tossed it onto a flat plate-like pan that had been set atop the fire.

It hissed then sizzled steadily. Oil that Itachi poured on the fish bubbled in miniature puddles. One popped and spat out a nasty gas. He hated the smell of the cooking oil. Stuff like that shouldn't be burned. It was like chocolate, it should smell good vaporized, but was terrible. They didn't know how the blond took his fish and neither bothered to ask, passing him the crunchy blackened trout.

Jaw set, it was accepted.

Kisame put out another then passed it to Itachi, medium rare. He ate his golden brown. Barely cooked.

Itachi would be taking first watch, he second. No questions or conferring to one another. The two of them knew each other well by now.

He watched the smoke as it came off in wisps and swirls making pictures and scenes out of nothing. An elk charging the sky..wolf swimming through the moon..a hawk diving into the sun..Kisame chuckled. The Uchiha-kid was rubbing off on him. _Staring broodingly off into space, acting like I know the world's secrets._

Word Count:_2,220_

Hehe..needless to say, Naruto's fish was well done. I bet you didn't see Kisame's point of view. Probably thinking Itachi or Naruto again, right? I really enjoyed that, it kind of made him my favorite character to write so far. Naruto isn't to far behind though. Yeah, the dragon totally wasn't planned it just kind of happened. But I thought it was pretty cool!

Ha. And when I was younger I had images of me being some badass author that posted twelve page chapters! I think I could do it, but that would take more time, and I like how I'm going now. And you probably like it too. -glances around nervously for Saph- It was a pretty fast update I would say!

I do have some badass songs on my I-pod though according to my friends!

-and no, you have to guess for yourself whose pov that was at the beginning. It may be a flashback, current time, or future glimpse.


	3. Nothing Clever Comes to Mind

Yum! *looks down at bowl of cheerios*. None of you guessed the trend yet? Well, it's only been two chapters, and so far it's been on accident. Wow, I guess I'm doing pretty good. Here is the stat list so far:

(chapter 2 only and anyone I missed last time)

Reviewers:SaphireWhiteWolf (of course. and the icecream is in a bowl btw. I know you are reading this), kutoki (maybe..maybe not..what's your definition of 'ok'), littlesnowfarie2005 (yay! a loyal reviewer! and no problem I _did_ask about 449 afterall), dragaman, and I think everyone else was mentioned last time. Thanks for the support y'all!!!!!

Alerts:SaphireWhiteWolf, nightevilblack, dragonfire04, dragaman, beta657, Angel-Mogamishi, Day of mourning, Kutoki, JSinuYasha, marsmonkey

Faves:SaphireWhiteWolf, ItachiUchiha2009, LiquidFire2009, smartguy876, naruto and kyubi rock, Angel-Mogamishi, dragonfire04, kutoki

Oh and I meant to put the dates at the bottom of each chapter. Chapter 1 posted May 31,2009, obviously. Chapter 2, June 1, 2009.

Thanks to everyone! Heads up, I'm trying to do as many different Pov's as possible, one each chapter. If you want to play a guessing game or make a suggestion, just put 'pein' 'gamatatsu' 'kiba' or whatever in your review, if you do.

Chapter 3 Nothing Clever Comes to Mind

(pagebreakbroke)

Such crazy creatures, mortals. Ungraceful oddities scrambling on the far side of the planet, clueless and forever hurting the mother of all. any misgivings they held of man did not matter though as the Lady had them in her favor, forever protecting her ungrateful unwanted children. But perhaps just this once..

No, one like he was never wrong. Just a stray thought. Time to settle down and rest, spend the day in contemplation.

(iamalinereallyiamalineiamalinedammit)

Daybreak. The sun slowly rose, rippling across the sky. Reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks painted the horizon, unvealing the ground so far below. Mist from the heavens had descended and covered the lower realm where he resided, casting an eerie glow as the light hit it. White faced clouds, like stretched hose, streaked across the sky at random.

This is what he observed as he awoke. Itachi did not remain in such a vulnerable position, near soundlessly rising, fully prepared, having slept in his cloak. It was unofficial protocol on missions such as these.

And he followed it down to the letter.

In reality it made things simple, though it was far from it. Rules eventually contradicted themselves, and left no room to breath. They eventually rebounded hitting the solid brick wall that was the boundary, and crossed back, creating a web of inter-tangled lies. Words that strangled the soul in a deathgrip the reaper was envious of.

Refusal to accept the world as it was kept him silent. For in the quiet he could think, and try to see truth. As things were without silly human connotations laid down upon them. Questions were his bane. Why? How? They rang in his head every night. Thoughts that had scale and slithered the halls of his conscious, fangs way-laid with poison ready to strike.

His self-destruction would be a beautiful thing.

Unseen, a barest hint of what could have been the start of a smile emerged onto his blank face. Itachi. He was a weasel. Weasels hunt snakes. He also fanned the flames of madness. Such atrocities that ran in his blood..

But he could not hide in his own dimension forever. Kisame had stopped his sleep rather abruptly, and woke Naruto-kun up shortly with a bucket of water. His spluttering was somewhat amusing. "I woke up nezumi." The kiri nuke-nin indicated needlessly.

"I see." He didn't think his partner would catch his subtle nod.

Falling into his near constant state of half here, half there, he let his thoughts roam. The sensation was familiar. Itachi had truly mastered zoning out while reflexively being aware of threats and his surroundings to a degree even Kakashi couldn't claim. Immediately the dragon came to mind.

Even to a being as cold and detached as he, the creature was majestic and mind-boggling. Truly something Itachi could say puzzled him even if he studied for decades, he mused. the appearance of the dragon wasn't what was so amazing. For lack of a better word, it's aura. The presence it held. Pure life, power, and the most..indescribable of chakra emanated from it.

Itachi respected few things. The late Sandaime, long deceased Yondaime, and the dragon. His father wasn't worthy of even an errant thought from him, and his mother who he found was kind, focused more on Sasuke..she ..just didn't..imprint on him the way the previous Hokage did. Perhaps if he were capable of appreciating loyal work and difficulties of raising a normal child, much less a genius..If he contemplated it, perhaps a sliver of faint admiration could be found for her.

"What do you want with me?" Broken from his reverie, the Uchiha slid his black eyes to his assigned target. Naruto's blue eyes were full of suspicion, but the light was still there, flickering. Just one more small push, and the stubborn false hope would go out. His lips were turned down and his eyebrows were trying to stitch themselves together. His eyes were slightly squinted.

What was the point of a lie. "Not you, the demon inside you."

Naruto's chakra involuntarily spiked and his eyes widened a fraction from the unexpected answer. So easy to read, like a scroll left carelessly open. He was bound to Kisame at the moment, a manacle enclosed his wrist. A metal chain infused with chakra and blood seals connected to it, linking to a silver wristband the two took turns wearing.

The genin falling silent, and Kisame preoccupied with the task of Naruto and sharpening a dull kunai, Itachi let his mind drift, staving off boredom.

He recalled a rare experience as a child. Not unusual in a time of war, as he was born in and spent the youngest of his years in, but odd in the fact that he had witnessed it before becoming a ninja. Itachi let himself sink into the memory of a time when being four meant relaxing at the koi fish pond, and wondering about the new brother that would soon be coming home.

Until the savage blood of war stained it.

Itachi had witnessed a battle. Completely enthralled as only a child could be, he watched it with wide eyes. The Konoha-nin was vested, but he had been too young to recognize the subtle differences between chuunin and jounin. A male with a whipcord body, but not narrow, and hair that was caught between light and dark.

He was in a field just a dozen meters beyond the tree line and the bodies of his fallen squad were around him. The spot was drenched with blood, dried to a dark maroon. It coated everything. A man lay, mouth open like he was screaming, arm half ripped from his body. It was hanging by a thread at the shoulder, skin ripped off. A kunai was sunk into his forehead. Dried blood was on his back. Was it his own, or simply splatter from another?

The enemy's vest was similar, but a light faded brown rather than green. A woman panted, the grin of battle on her face, chocolate eyes lit with the thrill of battle that came from the rush of adrenaline. Her white-blond hair had come undone and was splayed around her face, like some wild warrior maiden of the gods.

Konoha held a a straight short blade, Iwa a kunai and kusari-gama.

Both stood, exhausted, but ready to avenge the fallen. Their eyes met, and an electric energy seemed to grow between them. The force of it grew, until Itachi thought something must happen. Who would snap first?

The woman swung her kusari-gama slowly, almost languidly, chain whipping in the air. Her eyes were sharp. Suddenly, she struck, chain flying forward like a snake. With a clang it bounced off the flat of the blade. Not letting that deter her she threw the weighted end aiming to shatter her foe's head.

He slunk to the right and called out an inaudible jutsu, blade briefly glowing blue for a moment, and cut the chain. Released from it's bounds the weight kept going, slamming into a tree. He tossed two shuriken and three kunai. she blocked the first two, and they fell harmlessly to the ground. Her sickle couldn't deflect all the knives though, and she couldn't completely dodge. One lodged painfully in her gut.

The leaf-nin watched as she pulled out the weapon grimly, sweat causing a slight sheen on her body in the heat of the son. Blood sprayed from the room. Breathing deeply she spat in contempt. He closed the gap while she was removing the weapon.

A grin of victory was on his face. Sword held high, ready to stab her through the chest..His eyes widened and his face was a mask of shock and pain. A burning sensation was in his stomach. Too late though, his sword deeply rammed into her ribcage.

Itachi never heard the last words, or who blinked first. The Yondaime himself had found him just then on the bloody fields, full of moaning ghosts and trapped souls. Damned to personal hellish torture for the rest of eternity. Bright yellow hair, falling in spikes, laughing blue eyes..but not now. They were father's eyes, only the wrong color. Strong arms held him. A rushing sensation. Wind tearing at him. He couldn't hear anything but the sound of motion.

When the seventeen year old returned to the realm of man again, the day star was shining brightly in the sky. Noon then, as it was directly overhead. The sky still remained the unnerving grey covered with clouds, light filtering through only because of the intensity of it. Everything was strange because of that. Bright, yet overcast.

Not once since retrieving Naruto had they ventured onto the roads. Even game trails had been avoided. _Although I doubt they exist here._

If all went well, they should be at the base by nightfall. That would be..he searched for the appropriate word..nice..no..it was too generic..more specific..and badass..satisfying. Yes, it would be satisfying to return to his room. A grin of amusement flitted on and off his face. Never linger.

Never linger.

Such as the guidelines Itachi followed to the t, he also had self-imposed rules of survival. Shinobi. Never linger was one. He, as his captain had once said "was a minimalist, to the third degree." As was necessary given he had relatively low reserves. But that meant he could exert that much more fine control, make his chakra contort and do things others hadn't dreamed of.

"Heh, Itachi-san, what will we do after this?" The Uchiha knew it was only an opener. Something to start a (not) lengthy conversation. Kisame knew what they would be doing a few days from now; what the pair would be doing a few _years_ from now.

"Report to leader-sama."

Just a hint of a smirk. Just a hint, really.

Naruto watched the exchange carefully. Yes, he really should be information gathering, but walking, jogging, and then lightly running all day got boring. He hated doing stuff like that; the same things with no change. Who could stand that?

Itachi could practically_ feel_ the eye roll. "Ever come out into the real world?"

And something not quite human appeared on his face. Dangerous. The look of a predator. Murder. "No, not really."

(bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb)

Dun, dun dun! It's 2:58 pm and I've finished the chapter! Sorry, I meant to get it up yesterday, but ran out of time. I was only half way through the chapter. But I had a half day today and will tomorrow so I might do double or triple updates even. Only one more day of school!!!

Ok, so I kind of broke the trend. In chapter 1 and 2 I both ended them with a thought. Gah, I meant to reach the part where they arrive at the base!!! But it was such a good place to stop...

Words:2,055

Date: June 3, 2009

Did switching to Naruto briefly at the end mess it up? Like..break the scene or something..can't think of the phrase.. Oh and Saph (saphirewhitewolf for the slower of us out there) I have some water and hershey bars for your humans! Comments are appreciated. Also I was thinking of doing another story to do when I'm stumped for idea's here, a Harry Potter crossover. Any suggestions, requests? Open to anything.


	4. CRASH! And burn

Okay, just so you fully understand the situation:

I have snuck onto the computer to write and post this. So if updates are sparse from now on, it's not from lack of trying.

Thank you dragaman for your input about the crossover idea!

Without further ado:

The stone cave was nearly pitch black, and the walls were high and wet. Drips from the water plunked down at an unsteady rate. Fast then slow, not at all, frantic. In the middle of the giant underground pocket lay a grotesque statue with nine closed eyes and two hands. Ten fingers for ten Akatsuki members. Only nine rings remained though, ever since Orochimaru's rather abrupt departure.

At the moment in the middle of the structure, a ring sat. Something flickered, and then an image came to life in the underground cavern. It was like a projection, rather grainy. "Leader-sama." It was Itachi, dark hair, eyes, creepy voice and all.

"Report."

Seven other figures,all there in person, sublty leaned forward to hear the news. It must be important after all.

"We are several hours away, and we have captured the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."

This sent a ripple through the members. Already? And the most powerful of all? Wisely they stayed silent, not wishing to attract undue attention.

A beat. "I see." His voice was calm, giving away nothing. "Dismissed." He turned to he Akatsuki. "Prepare, we have work to do."

"You mean extracting, hm?"A man murmured as he jumped away. It was impossible to see his profile in the shadows.

"I thought I was the impatient one; eager to capture the Ichibi already?" Something seemed to whip behind the hunched figure. The male seemed to shuffle rather than walk.

"No, no, danna. Just lamenting how I won't get to test out my new jutsu on the test dummy."

What a regretful thing too; the live prisoner wouldn't be recieving a visitor today.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was a tense feeling in the air. Naruto looked around uneasily. Just more endless grass. No trees to break it up or nothing. Such openess was a bit anxiety inducing. They stopped for no apparent reason. He didn't see anything special about the spot.

A tremor went through the ground. It wasn't loud, but it did make him tipsy. What kept him on his feet was the bracelet. It also trapped him._ The jailor of the demon is now the prisonor._The grass began creeping back, and the dirt was swept away as well. Slowly; it wasn't a fast process. A circle with a diameter roughly of 18 inches was revealed. The black stone was dull and rough.

And suddenly, he was there. No going back now. Naruto couldn't kid himself anymore that anyone was gonna come rescue him anymore. If he bothered to think about it, he doubted anyone would care. The blond grit his teeth. Kisame and Itachi might have been civil, but they were not what anyone could call trustworthy. Much less ally or friend. _They are going to take my demon away._

And he should be happy with that, shouldn't he? No more dark looks. His inner demon would literally be gone. But for some reason, he didn't want that. Naruto couldn't just say he wanted the cause of all his lonely and nightmarish moments gone. Besides, the blond didn't like to think what shady characters like those two would have planned for a powerful demon.

Another rumble shook him. Then the stone split apart, and was sucked into the earth. A dark black hole loomed.

"Hehe. C'mon brat." Kisame shoved him forward, jumping in after him.

'sssshiiiiiiiittt!' It was like when Jiraiya had pushed him off the cliff, but ten times worse. He was free falling in the pitch black, attatched to a shark man by a damn bracelet. Naruto's stomach was in his throat. And there was only one way to release that pent up energy.

So he screamed.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for such a short chapter guys, and after such a long wait. But a lot of work and effort went into this chapter, dammit! For those unaware with my pitiable situation: I am now allowed on the Internet (yay!) but under tough supervision with limits-including no fanfiction. At all. Not that they know I have an account, so.. Yahoo! The chapter is have no idea how frustrating this is/was.


	5. Partial Completion,twamic

Darn I forgot again: Last chapter was posted guys, here ya go:

Chapter 5: Partial Completion, the world around me is crumbling

part2:

Not only was it a shriek of terror, this was a battle cry worthy of a demon, and full of anger and defiance. The screech was also a bit panic filled. Of course Naruto would never admit it; even under torture, such as seeing his favorited ramen being eaten in front of him while being harrassed by a ghost, those words "I screamed like a girl" would never leave his lips.

He heard nothing but the rush of wind rushing past him. It whistled almost, in his ears. And a sense of emptiness looming all around him. The genin felt as if he was just falling helplessly through nothingness, and who knew where the end was in sight? Naruto really didn't want to end up as a splat in an evil lair somewhere. It was just too cliche and creepy.

Everything was just happening really, really fast. Kind of like the fateful battle on the bridge with Haku, when he and Sasuke-teme were struggling to stay alive and not die against the ice-users speedy senbon attacks. In those mirrors, all actions were guided by reflex and ingrained instinct, events were moving far too quickly for a planned reaction.

And yet, even though a lot of it was a blur, nothing but a few snapshot pictures, things also went strangely slowly in that adrenaline high way. Some moments dragged on and on, others still so fast his eyes and mind shouldn't have been able to comprehend it, but parts of the battle were crystal clear; holding a dream-like quality almost.

He was recalling that drunken reckless alive feeling now.

There was that burnt ashy smell again. And saltyness.

It was stupid he wanted to laugh. His scream was over now. The irrational terror had fled him. Why was it that those scents came back again now?

A metallic clink. The jerk and pain coming from his wrist registered a moment later. _Ow! Damn that hurt._ Then his feet hit solid ground. Naruto was somewhat shocked his sandals had lasted this long; the journey had been rough and unforgiving. His faithful shoes had already been worn even before this: the blond was surprised that they had lasted this long. They were thin and he could practically feel the uneven bumpy ground beneath his feet. It was hard. Probably rock.

Just behind was the hulking shark guy, Kisame. As big and blue as ever, and leering at him. Naruto had a faint suspicion the Kiri nuke-nin enjoyed freaking him out. He was to his left and attatched to that respective wrist by that damned bracelet. The feeling of being quite literally bound to an intimidating figure like that was very unnerving. He couldn't see Itachi.

The hairs on his neck stood up. Then quite literally he felt someone in front of him. He sensed the figure turning, and then red eyes appeared in the dark. Itachi must have ghosted over to the front. Naruto realized he had stopped breathing and took a long breath of air like a man in a desert who had at last found the so longed for and evasive oasis.

Itachi was scary. And no shame lay in admitting it. Even the hard-headed blond could figure that out. Maybe even admit it.

Naruto was really starting to realize truly for the first time how far over his head he was. Not even Kakashi-sensei could easily wiggle out of something like this.

The next thing he remembered was voices. All around. Naruto didn't remember when he'd blacked out.

"I thought the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi would be more impressive, hmm?"

"All the host is is a poorly trained child, afterall, Deidara."

"Yeah, whatever danna. It won't really matter though for much longer."

A tingle went down his spine. 'What do they mean, 'It won't really matter though for much longer'?!' Cold ice washed down him. Soaking him with a unnatural chill down to his very bones. Maybe even further. If it was possible.

"It's still a disappointment though." This voice was different from the earlier two.

"I say you're lucky. Getting the strongest one off the bat, and it wasn't even a challenge."

"No. The Kyuubi probably just isn't as impressive as we thought. How else could it be so pathetically easy? The host reflects the demon's power."

Weak? They were calling him weak? He was weak? Dammit! It wasn't his fault those two were so crazy strong!

"Enough. It is time to begin the extraction process. Is the host properly secured?"

"Heh. You still left the bracelet on?" Finally a voice he recognized, shark man.

And then the words began to register. He could still feel the hard cold metal on his wrist, and found he couldn't move. In fact, Naruto couldn't even recall _how_ to work his muscles. Again panic welled within him. Naruto was really tired of it, he had felt so much panic and helplessness in the past few days, he was really getting sick of it by now. He swore if he ever got out of this somehow, no one would _ever_ be calling him weak again or make him feel fear, panic, and helpless.

"We won't be needing it after this; might as well give him something to offer to the gods in the afterlife." Though the words should be kind, they only held mocking.

Cruel and sharp they cut through him. Instead of making him bleed though, it only unleashed a barrage of memories; things he'd tried to forget as he served Konoha.

He was two, and it was raining out. Naruto was a good, smart boy though, despite what his caretakers might think. The blond knew how to get in through the rusty metal vent on the west side of the building. It was funny how they thought they could trick him. He always won the sneakiest way in games; sometimes he wished he wasn't the only one playing though.

Was he three? Two..four? All he could remember was that terrible sound; laughter. And confusion. The echoing question; why?

Seven; it was raining, the drops pounding against the ground. It was fall. The leafs had turned pretty reds, yellows, and oranges. But..it didn't matter. None of it did. Because it was his birthday and Koju had torn up his invitations that hadn't been given out yet; Sakura, Kiba, and Chouji had got one. But that had been hours ago..and no one had showed up. They were just lost, that was all.. he just needed to wait a little longer. He _knew they would come_; they promised.

_They never did though. _A bitter voice whispered in his ear, breaking him from the torrent of memories._ You waited in the rain for hours, and no one came. Even when you asked the next day, all you got was a blank look. No one cared. No one even bothered to _pretend_ that they liked you._

Now that he was aware, the blond made it a point to shove all those dark memories to the back of his mind. _I can't give up hope..Baachan's probably sent a sqad after me already. Even Anbu! They're probably hot on my heels._

Naruto was a very convincing liar, having bulshitted an Anbu point-blank..but he couldn't even lie to himself.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Words: 1,301

That's not counting any of the notes. I meant to have at least 2,000 words like I usually do, especially after the short chapter last time. But this was just the perfect place to stop. And this is like Part 2 of the previous chapter..Kind of..or a continuation of it..So if I combine the two..that's like..just over 2,000!!! wahahaha..see...okay, anyway.

Much thanks all who reviewed last chapter!!

shinobi89, being the sole reviewer, thank you! Honestly that was one of the best ones I've had. "Wow, this is probably one of the best story(me: um..stories?) I've read in a long, long time!! I hope you never run out of ideas for this awesome story!! update soon!!"

Wow, that seriously blew me away. I was like: "Wow, he hasn't written any stories, but he has stuff like The Melt in his favorites." So that I would think is a HUGE compliment. I'll try to do my best!

A Naruto plushy for you, shinobi89!! And to Saph: I'm on my way to read your newest chapter asap!!! And I might take you up on that offer, when can I move in?

Alright people, I don't "need" reviews, but a I REALLY appreciate them, and they inspire me to write faster especially if I have writers block. I know more than ten people are reading this from all the faves and alerts I've been getting; it really flatters me, but could you at least say 'update' or point out any flaws?? Please?

One last thing: you need to check some of these stories out-

Music of Emotions by SaphireWhiteWolf aka "Saph" if you're into ItaNaru, wackiness, of any type of Akatsuki/yaoi at all, this is for you.

The Paths We Choose by lord of the land of fire-this is way different from his usual works; It's about how Naruto and Sasuke essentially switch places-Naruto becomes darker and crueller as the story progresses and manipulative, and Sasuke becomes more social and not so emo. He still brings NaruHina in but in a fresh way.

Repent by AmayaNight-she is up and coming and it's not the 'best' story out there, but Amaya is doing her best with crossing the supernatural-vampires, demons, and reincarnation, with the world of ninja.

Tears of the Spring Cherry Blossom Child by Namida no Tenshi 93- this story follows Sakura, an angel-human hybrid at Shadow Tenshi Academy, a school for both angels and humans. What's most refreshing is that her love interest is NOT Sasuke. Namida is running a poll and Sakura could end up with anyone from Itachi to Kisame-no kidding. It's first person and is just getting underway. The only confirmed pairing is ChouIno And MAYBE NaruHina..eventually.

Make it a point to at least take a glance at these stories.

6/30/09


	6. The Ghosts are Coming for You, kid

damn. I don't think it showed up. Chapter 4 was submitted May 31, 2009. Wow, right now literally half my reviews are on chapter one. Oh well, EvilPopcorn is the first reviewer for chapter 5, thanks for answering my plea! Here's the next part folks. Oh wow, I made a big mistake. He doesn't even know Tsunade yet..um..just mentally replace that with Jiraiya. 7/6/09

Chapter 6: The Ghosts are Coming for You, kid

Not that he would admit it, being an Akatsuki bad ass and all, but this was hard. Much harder than usual as in "I typically blow up buildings with my clay because I'm a terrorist and escape before the ninja police catch me". And Deidara didn't even consider the other options such as "Maybe this is harder than usual because it's going wrong, or we fucked up really really bad and now we're all gonna blow up into icky pieces, or a demon's gonna be let loose and kill us and eat our souls".

That just didn't go his way, ya know? Just for some odd reason.

But hey, who doesn't like being an S-class criminal that is soon going to be demon chow?

Sweat ran down his brow. Now annoyance seeped in, not at the kid's stubbornness to hold onto his demon, no Deidara didn't mind that much, it was that his hair was going to be a bitch to fix again. All this hard work was killing his hair-do. We all do have our little pleasures after all.

Itachi's was ruining peoples lives, Kisame killing, Hidan..well, there you go, killing again, Kakuzu money, Sasori-danna puppets..and..ok making human puppets did include murder as a hobby.

Deidara's besides being a terrorist from Iwa that was a regular pyromaniac just trying to blow things up until the Uchiha got involved, had his hair.

Was it so much to ask that he be able to have a (possibly) girly hair do?

The problem was no chakra was leaking out. Oh sure, the host was suspended creepily in the air before the statues (personally Deidara didn't like this part that much..the host looked like a zombie and the statue just gave him the creeps), and was writhing in sorta silent agony; every once in a while a scream broke through his tired throat, the rest of the time his back was arched and his head thrown back in a silent scream. But no energy was seeping from his ears eyes and mouth and seeping into the statue in red billows of chakra clouds.

And that was the pretty big bummer. The power from the demon that should be leaking from the host was the whole point of the operation.

Naturally after over 36 hours of trying to rip the second soul from the jinchuuriki's body (that's a day and a half people) to no avail didn't put anyone in the best of moods.

Failure did that to people. Evil bad guys just typically weren't too pleased when something sabotaged their plans.

"Are we to abort the mission? _This is one damn stubborn brat."_

Pein glanced at Zetsu. "Yes..and no. Begin JU19." He ordered, answering not only the black and white cannibal but told what he expected of all.

Deidara was mildly shocked, and puzzled. But he didn't think to much on it now, and let relief flood him, and dropped his arms, ending the seal he'd held for over a day.

Time to start the operation.

(whatcouldtheirplanbe?huh,whatdoyouthink?)

Ugh. The world began to come into focus once more. He had a killer headache.

Wait!

Was..was he..still alive? _'But how could that be?' _Last time he checked, he was dying or something worse; did that mean Naruto's demon still remained?

Naruto honestly hoped the answer was yes.

He knew that didn't really make much sense, but did any part of this situation meet normal?

Blinking, the blond realized what had been throwing him off ever since he regained consciousness was the fact that he could actually _see _his surroundings. Most recent events had dim lighting with little more than vague shapes visible. To Naruto it was like a man living underground had discovered the sun. And that was_ really _bright and shocking.

He sat up slowly, half-way up still leaning on his elbows. The genin wasn't just on a fuuton like he expected, but an actual raised bed. The sheets and mattress were rather basic, but still. Immediately in front of him was a familiar sight-more stone cavern. _Like I've seen enough of those lately._ It held a slight difference though-It was brown. As if it broke up the monotony.

Naruto groaned and hung his head. His stomach rumbled and he was reminded of ramen-therefore he thought of Ichiraku ramen-so he thought of home with as pang.

Konoha. The village hidden in the leaves. His home was surrounded by trees and many forests and woods. But recalling that seemed wrong. The blond changed his thoughts instead to the cliffs that held the faces of the Hokage. _The old man_..he thought mournfully. The old man was..so many things. Naruto had always thought him to be a mountain-something that couldn't be moved;permanent.

It could that he'd been underground too long-away from fresh air, sunlight and the trees..but when he tried to think of a way to explain what jiji had been to him, the blond could only think of someplace pitch black. A dark cave, or even a hole..so deep he couldn't see anything, and he was trapped and couldn't even begin to see the way out. Jiji..

He wasn't the hand offered up; the helping hand saying "here, grab me, trust me, I'll rescue you." No the old man was different possibly more important. Like a true Hokage he was the embodiment of the will of fire. Sarutobi was a candle that cast a glow and allowed him to see the hand, allowed him to see that there _was_ a way out.

Naruto knew there was a word for something like that..and he felt like something was wrong with him if he couldn't even remember it.

And then like the ghosts he so feared, two figures appeared.

He felt really he should be applauded and awarded that he didn't scream this time; he really hated ghosts..spirits of the dead scared him. Reminded him what he could soon become.

One presence he recognized after a moment; Itachi. Those black eyes that captured him so; and the feeling like the Uchiha was so intense yet so..not there like he was in limbo between this realm and the place of the dead. It wasn't something he liked to remember. Much less experience in the flesh once more.

The other was familiar in the vague, "I've seen you somewhere before..perhaps I passed you on the street once, or we both were at the same show." way. You'd seen them once, but weren't really paying attention to them, they were just there. A piercing glinted in the light. Whoah. That dude had like a billion studs in his face, all over!!! Naruto let a stray thought or two cross his mind; that hair really was perfect-c'mon, it's freakin' orange people!

His ninja training kicked in when he saw the orange-stud-guy start to perform handseals. Rooster, Rat, Snake..this wasn't any ninjutsu the blond was familiar with. And he was beginning to get woozy. His reality began blurring and his head spun. "..wuuz goin' on?"Naruto slurred, eyes closing as if they couldn't help themselves.

"Only a jutsu allowing you to sleep."

And then he was out like a light.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Hahaha.."

"What a loser!"

"Dumbass."

Naruto scrunched up his face; squinted his eyes, so he wouldn't cry, like he swore; clenched his jaw and set his mouth in a frown, anything he said always made it worse; and unable to help himself, the small blond hunched his shoulders and made angry fists. The sound of laughter..he couldn't stand it.

Always it came in cruel tones, mockingly. Always at his expense. Never did the sound mean joy or elation to him.

All it represented was those who derived pleasure from his pain and humiliation.

He stalked off, full of anger and frustration. Naruto didn't bother to stick around for the Academy lesson. Being a ninja with them was just stupid anyway.

---

Rrrrrr. Rarf!

That sound sent dread down his spine. Stiffening, all he could do was tighten the grip on the tree branch;tired and scared of teeth that meant pain it was no easy task. Naruto's muscles were tired. The blond wished that they would just go away. Dogs were evil. Always chasing him, yapping loudly and giving away his position anytime he was pulling a trick. Nothing good ever came from them.

They even tried to steal his food. It was already bad enough that he was glared at when he went to buy stuff. The seven year old didn't need to fight for scraps.

Whenever he thought of dogs, dark things rose up within him.

He'd always hated Inuzuka Kiba for not watching his monster.

---

Why was it that no one liked paying attention to kids? Naruto always hated it when he was brushed off.

As if what he had to say, what he thought wasn't important.

Like he didn't exist. Or was he just invisible?

Naruto couldn't stand ghosts; he always feared one day while he was staring in the mirror, he would disappear.

Just like they wanted.

---

Covered in sweat, Naruto jack-knifed straight up, gasping for air. Relief for his lungs, but no comfort to his mind. _I'm still here._ He thought wildly. _I'm not gone. No ghosts yet._

The blond prayed that it wasn't possible for the Akatsuki to achieve his ultimate, secret fear.

"Snap out of it." He ordered. Hearing his voice in his own ears helped. It seemed unnaturally loud though in the spartan room.

Still, the genin glanced around the room warily and was tempted to look under the bed.

_That's where monsters sleep!_

The blond flinched. The voice was ringing as if the old lady had just screamed it at him again. Two years old, and that had been his most prominent memory.

Naruto sometimes wondered why he'd even become a shinobi for the village. It still hadn't gained him any respect. People still spat at him anyway as he passed.

The only improvement was they layed off when he was with his team. Somewhat.

But it was just as harsh as ever alone. Glares. Whispers.

Damn ingrates.

All that he did for them-and what was he rewarded with? Nothing!

_You could be powerful without them._ Something murmured in his mind.

Normally, Naruto paid no thoughts like that such heed.

But tonight..

He could do anything.

---

The blond'shead whipped around at the sound of rock moving. Part of the wall was moving down. Someone must have been using a Doton jutsu to create a way in.

It was orange-piercings and Itachi again. Both in the mysterious black cloaks decorated with red clouds. This couldn't be good. Were they coming to try to take his demon away again? Or worse. Torture him for information he couldn't give?

Because no one trusted him to let him know anything important.

Ouch. Yeah, that kinda stung.

"Come with us."

Naruto was reluctant, but knew resistance would ultimately be futile. It was childish, but he still wanted to know what orange-piercings name was. Clearly a fairy must have been around and granted his wish.

The man chuckled at something, the blond had no clue what. "My name is Pein." Okay..wow, that was kind of creepy. Like how did the guy know..?

Itachi ghosted behind them as they passed through the entrance and it closed up behind them, sealing the cave once again. "He is our leader." Narutobit his lip and tried to keep his shudder from escaping. There was just something about that Uchiha.. His voice had such a strange effect on him. The twelve year old ignored the walking-on-my-grave feeling, and focused on following Pein.

For pure ninja purposes, he tried to memorize their route. Right left, abruptly there were stairs, another left right, right, now they were going down a set of stairs. Left, right, up, down, up, left..left?

It was dizzying and practically impossible to make a mental map of the place. So many tunnels branching off into other tunnels. Then they were going up stairs, deeper down, then back up again.

He wondered if they were doing that on purpose.

By now his stomach was killing him. Naruto hadn't ate in like..forever. The blond genin frowned. Starvation was not a death he looked forward to.

Then finally after ten minutes of navigating the maze they stopped.

His jaw dropped. The exit was right there. Right freaking in front of him, like twenty feet away. He could practically taste his freedom. It was a relief to breath the fresh air. The blond tired of the stale air of the tunnels. Naruto squinted. The light was very bright after days of dim lighting. "What.." the words died on his lips. _I'm tired of these mind games._

That had to be their game. Now like a rabbit of something they were dangling a carrot on a stick over a staked pit, and were seeing if he was gonna jump.

Well no siree. Naruto was _not_ falling for that.

"You can go, Naruto." Itachi's voice was smooth. And eerie as always.

The blond shook his head. "No. I'm not falling for it. This is just another mind game of yours."

"You can go if you wish, or stay here." Pein intoned. "Just tell me the answer to this; If you weren't here right now, what would you be doing?"

Naruto couldn't answer, because he didn't know. The blond did know though. He just didn't want the answer he was getting. So he stayed silent.

Before they could change their minds, he went after the damn carrot. Naruto flew out of the tunnel, and didn't look back once.

Even if he really wanted to.

/////////////////////////////////////////

_Words:_ 2,575

That's like a new record for me. Betcha didnt' see that coming! Don't worry things will work out. It's important to the story that this happens.

Thank you also JSinuYasha for reviewing. I didn't catch it until just now. Not to be whiny, but I'm really motivated when you review!!! I appreciate it a whole lot.

cookies for JS and EvilPopcorn (I seriously love that screen name).

Ok peoples, this is a really cool story that I found:

Of love and mistakes, by Silver Vanilla; Main char. are Itachi and Naruto. A very twisted Au. Sick brilliance people. Only two chapters so far, but still. How far will a person go for a friend, is the question here.

Alright, that's it for now. I can't wait til my game gets here!! Hurry up Amazon. The World Ends with You for those care.

Edited 6/11/09. Finally fixed all the spaces.


	7. Reality is just an illusion anyway

Hey y'all!! Thanks for the reviews! Who knew I just had to delay longer than usual? jk. I've been busy-and I got a new cousin, Mason on the tenth! He's such a cutie.

JSinuYasha: Yeah, I wanted this to steer away from cliche. Thank you for the many reviews, and I hope not to disappoint with the twist coming up. At first I was letting him go for rather straight forward reasons, but now that I've got some of Saph's original idea's..well they were to good not to fit in!

Saph: Hey!! Yeah, I fixed the spacing. Thanks for pointing that out!

snowbunniex3:Got the spacing issue taken care of. Thanks!! You think I'm a great author? Cool!

cancelmyaccountplz: Here ya go! awesome name btw.

oxygen deprived: why don't you get an account? You're my second anonymous review!Yay me!! I don't mind, just curious.

To all: Thank you for reviewing! I'm meeting some people with some really cool names. That goes to all four of the above and evilpopcorn.

Chapter 7: Reality is just an illusion, anyway, right?

An insane jailer wouldn't be a good thing. It was already degrading enough. But still, at the thought of chaos and bloodshed..how could anyone resist?

---

Sweat ran down his brow. His face was sticky from the stuffy heat, and his orange jacket stuck to his back, soaked through with perspiration. Naruto wasn't sure when his shirt had been lost. He could have sworn that it was on when he fled from the Akatsuki base. Huh. Dawn, or Red Moon if you will, was what they called them selves. How spiffy.

The escapee let out a long breath, puffing his cheeks out. The sun beat down hard, unlike his journey here which had been filled with overcast weather. The light was immensely bright with the branches and leaves of trees to filter through. He could smell the own stink of his dirty tired body, and the sounds of his harsh pants seemed to blot out everything else. In rare moment or exhaustion, the genin bent over, hands on his knees.

Naruto felt sick. Totally and completely sick to his stomach. Something was crawling up his throat, (bile? he couldn't remember his last encounter with food) and his gut felt as if it couldn't decide where it wanted to be-his throat, or should he cough it up so that it may lay on the ground?

Right now if he looked in a mirror, the blond would probably say he looked like a sunflower..or some type of plant anyway. Green face, and yellow hair.

Ha ha.

If he wasn't so busy glaring, he'd be all over the idiot that was laughing at him. Cause someone had to be out there, knowing his luck.

The past ten hours he'd been running, practically non-stop, only briefly halting when he thought he heard an approach. But all had been false warnings. The weather had been unforgiving-a relentless heat that was somewhat familiar, but drier than normal (the lack of humidity was a partial relief) stuffy air was a big change. It only exa-excab..he couldn't think of the word Iruka-sensei had used once, but it made his parched throat a hell of a lot worse.

So of course now he was probably suffering from a case of exposure to the elements and heat stroke.

Wow. Wouldn't that be awesome to go down as the lamest jinchuuriki (and ninja) ever- dying from a case of heatstroke. And he was from the land of FIRE too. How embarrassing.

In fact, he felt so crappy, he never noticed as he slipped from reality.

Into a void. He must have. There was no other explanation.

---

Back and forth. Back and forth the silly little human went. Never realizing it was trapped. That this was all a game. The creature wondered why exactly did this duty fall to it, to watch over such a pathetic pitiable being. But as their rank was low, and the one who had assigned the job a much more higher and powerful being, the creature did as was told, pushing away such idle questions.

---

"Ugh."

Really, did he have to groan every time he woke up? Actually, why did he always have to pass out in the middle of nowhere for that matter?

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, only to see dry grass. The blond had apparently faced planted when he'd, ahem, 'lost consciousness'. "Fainted."

"What?" his head whipped around. "Who was that?" He was too far gone if it was an enemy.

"Oh, little ole me? I am nothing. And a funny thing you are."

By now he was in a crawling position, on all fours. And then it just slowly materialized. Fell into place, like puzzle pieces. There was no word, or no string of words and letters for it.

Out of nowhere a dog appeared. No noise, no chakra signature. _Impossible._ The grass crunched like straw with the smallest amount of pressure.

"Are..A-are you a g-ghost?" the genin tripped over his words, it was like living his worst nightmare. "Or..or a spirit?"

The canine was a unexplainable mix of green and red, fur matted. Somehow the dog had a dirty look though no mud covered it's fur coat. One ear was up, the other down. And his eyes..were swirls of color. Right now an eerie yellow. Like a cattle dog gone wrong on the whole. Then the dog cocked it's head in the way dog's do when they're curious..but kept on going.

This was unnatural. Something should have cracked at that angle. A disturbing smile came to light it's face, pearly teeth gleaming and paradoxically clean.

"I'm neither here nor there, young traveler. You are the one that doesn't belong."

_What?..what is this?..can this dog read minds?_

Then the creature blinked. Now it's eye were solid orange. "You could go one way..or go another. All of the paths are open. What's stopping you from going down another road? Hm?"

This was just giving him a headache. Despite his earlier fear, now all he could feel was annoyance. Why all the questions. "Why don't you stop pestering me!"

"Are you a coward?"

Naruto froze. "Who the hell do you think you are!! What the hell are you saying!!" He snapped, rounding on the dog.

Only to find that it had disappeared.

The genin fell to the ground. "Dammit."

---

Zetsu hummed contentedly, watching the flames roast the flesh, as he turned the spit. He'd withdrawn his plant like features, understandably not wishing them to be burned. _"Almost done. Just a few more touches." _The criminal murmured. The meat sizzled in the heat of the furnace, and spat as a glob a fat hit the hot surface. Cooking was his hobby, though many preferred to skip his cuisine.

This was been a man once after all.

Currently his thigh was being cooked. Zetsu had added some spices for flavor. Blood was all the sauce he needed.

The head was the most delicate of all, and to be prepared last. "I do love eyeballs."

The head cavity would be stuffed with herbs, once he cracked the skull. He couldn't stand the taste of plain brain. It was only good in stir-fry. Otherwise he smothered the flavor with other delicacies such as the juice squeezed from the liver, topped with eyeballs. They were his favorite part after all.

Itachi stepped in. Unusual. Typically he didn't act as a messenger. It was either Hidan, Sasori, or Kakuzu that was the go between. "Leader-sama would like to see you, as soon as you are able."

Even the young murderer's lips turned as he walked out the door.

Zetsu didn't care if they found him strange, repulsive.

That just meant he didn't have to share.

---

"How long 's it been?"

"Three days."

Someone whistled. "Damn."

"Given him any food or water?"

A beat. "No."

---

Not too long after the dog had left, Naruto had punched the ground, hard. And now it felt as if a knuckle might be broken.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" He was still full of frustration and unable to vent it.

Now every once in a while, he was aware that something was following him. When he looked over his shoulder, nothing was there. Suddenly look up, nope, nothin'.

Hoping to lose the pursuer (cause he _knew_someone was there) the genin had veered off his original course, and even started to zig-zag.

But the sensation remained. Nothing could shake them.

The sun was setting, and trying to set it out of his mind, Naruto happened upon a river; he decided to follow it.

But first, he was REALLY thirsty.

And then the damn dog showed up again.

"What are you doing here?" his voice was hoarse, but still full of anger.

The dog blinked. "I'm neither here..nor there." It's head tilted at an unnatural angle again. "But I happen to be thirsty."

To his horror, the dog started lapping up HIS water. "No. No! I found this water first!! Shoo!"

If it wasn't so sad, it would be comical.

None of his efforts (and shouts) seemed to work. The dog kept drinking, and Naruto finally shoved it, to no effect.

The blond literally couldn't touch it. It was like an invisible shield was rebounding him. All of his water was being sucked away!!!

The dog opened his mouth, and it seemed to get wider, and wider, a great black maw. And the river changed course, flowing into the dog with no end in sight.

The river bed was sucked completely dry. Tears might have been flowing down his face. _This CAN'T be happening._

"You don't know the meaning of thirsty."

Those words, the image of the dog walking away without a second look, would be engraved in his mind forever.

---

Later, while continuing down river, Naruto happened upon a spring that led to a great lake. The surface of the water rippled gently, innocently. The sun had just set and the blond had watched, hunger still gnawing at him.

For once it was a clear night and he could see the moon and the stars as he'd imagined them. A grove of tree's surrounded the area, and as a chilling wind blew he retreated the the cover of the tree's and sat at the edge of a swamp. The water was dark and murky. Vines hung down everywhere like decorations and moss grew on everything.

He could hear his own breathing, heartbeat..the chirps of insects and soft whoosh of wings. The ground felt softer here, not as hard and full of cracks and bitterness as out in the plains.

Naruto leaned against a tree trunk.

That was when the show began.

The twelve-year-old blinked at first, convinced that his eyes were playing tricks on him. But then he saw the soft red glow again.

This was not a lack of sleep.

The orb of light floated over the swamp, alone for a moment, and he felt sad. But then a whitish blue light appeared, then a green-yellow. Soon a whole assortment of colors had joined the first, and they mingled together like a group of friends.

Naruto felt a pang.

Then he reminded himself that he was strong, and not weak like a little spoiled kid.

He spent the night watching the werelights dance.

---

Words:2027

Ok done. That wasn't TOO hard. Only took a day or so once I started. Can anyone guess what word describes sarutobi in the last chapter? Just curious if anyone figured it out.

Last chapter was my longest to date. I could have made this longer, the only hard part was trying to get the dog right. But I love reviews, and didn't want to keep you waiting.

the award for best ideas: SaphireWhiteWolf. Kyuubi plushy to you!

Feel free to let me know what you'd like to see. Although no guarantee it'll make it in there. Saph kind of has more sway as this was originally her idea. Any suggestions on the dog's name?

Story of the day:

Bunny! by silvablaze. this is wonderful crack. I know saph is already read it. trust me, it'll brighten your day. Involves chibi madness.

7/12/09


	8. Losin' it Aint Cool

Hey y'all! I'm all happy cause I saw baby Mason today! Man, that kid can eat and go through diapers at the speed of light.

Swordsman of Shadow: Thanks! That means a lot. I hope not to disappoint!

"..": not sure what I should call you, as no name showed up. Anonymous reviewer then I guess, I shall call you nameless. Thank you for the suggestions! I haven't decided yet. Maybe "rainbow/ rainbow colored dog of insanity" Not exactly sure how that would translate, and that might be a mouthful. Yeah, I pictured Naruto just sitting enthralled at the light show. Just pictured it my head and had to put in in here. A lot of things are spur of the moment. I'm glad you liked it. :)

Most dedicated reviewer award: JSinuYasha: you'll see. the dog kind of does. but doesn't.

---- Chapter 8: Losin' it ain't cool or: Never talk to strangers

Eventually, Naruto fell asleep. His dreams were not pretty at all. Nightmarish and unpleasant all would suffice to say he didn't get a good nights sleep.

In fact the only good thing so far was last night. He'd watched the lights floating, mingling, dancing. He thought it was the best show in the world. The most mystical thing he'd ever seen. Of course, not forgetting the dragon. It had been majestic, but intimidating. Forceful might be the word.

The genin attempted to count how many day's it had been since all this started. To his panic, he found he couldn't. The knowledge, or rather the memories kept slipping away. Like an oily ball.

"Having a hard time?"

Oh no. It could NOT be the damn dog. "I should just call you the dog of insanity!" It constantly grated on his nerves. _Maybe most annoying dog from hell would be better._

"I'm disappointed. I'm not from hell. I wanted a better guess."

If Naruto were to describe the dog to an artist to draw, this was what he'd tell them: it was a dog. So four legs, and a tail of course. That would be the general shape. And the dog was in relative proportion to it's body (the legs weren't to short and stubby, or long and narrow). It's fur though was in poor condition: matts and tangles were everywhere. Yet it was oddly clean. Not dirt was anywhere. Not even a speck. And as far as he knew, no fleas either. The hardest part would be to color it; it's fur was green and red. That's all he could say. Not, "Oh, red legs, green body." The most accurate description would be if it got in the middle of a paint-war crossfire. Splashes of crimson and emerald colored it at random intervals.

The teeth of course were pearly white. And he saw them. When the dog smiled. Last were the eyes. They constantly changed color; sometimes they were solid and he couldn't see any pupil. It was a wonder the thing could even see. If you mixed glue with rainbow colored glitter, he imagined that's how the eyes would look.

All in all, it wasn't a typical mutt.

"What do you want?" The twelve year old must have asked a thousand times.

And still he got no answer. Actually the dog never did anything he wanted it too. The blond was starting to feel insane.

_This isn't a story about the hero. This a tale of someone's decent into madness._

"Bingo."

"W-wait! What?" Bingo what? What was the hakkyou-inu talking about.

"I already said it once: bingo."

And with that the dog dissolved into the wind.

---

Poor thing. She thought it was rather cute and had begged father. High status did have it's perks. She was giddy with excitement. The creature could barely stay still. Father had said yes! It wasn't often that the youngest of the brood got their way.

---

Finally! A village. _It's all the small things._ He thought.

A hot shower; being clean. Regular meals. They were part of what made you human; those creature comforts.

By now, his shoes were completely shot. The blond kicked them off. His jacket though torn (and clearly having seen better days) was still usable and he held onto it stubbornly. His pants were on the verge of destruction; the ends were frayed and the knees were torn open. The genin had a chance to clean up a bit at the river, but grime still covered him.

Plus his stomach might eat itself soon. _I need food! Now! My stomach doesn't even GROWL anymore.._Naruto thought mournfully at the thought of something to eat.

And unknown to him, his eyes were bloodshot. A pretty pathetic sight all around.

pit pat pit pat.

_No!_

He swung around. The dog.

Now he was coming to the village entrance. "What are you doing here?!" Naruto hissed.

No answer. Typical.

Trying to ignore his own personal ghost, the blond followed the dirt path into the small village (really it was just a few houses and basic stores) hoping to see a market.

A hand latched onto his wrist.

He spun on instinct, nerves completely gone. Naruto was a wreck and prepared to stick a kunai in the first thing that surprised him.

The blond's target was short, female, reddish brown hair, grey eyes. _She's just a child!!_ Something screamed at him, stopping him from completing his attack.

Her eyes were now wide, but she was unharmed. Shame filled him, and he fled.

_I really AM a monster._

Never mind she stood their watching, just as hurt. Already Nina missed her friend. She watched him sadly.

---

"Status?"

Another lower voice answered the cool tone. "Five days. .." the rest was muffled and incomprehensible to anyone else.

---

Naruto stared at his hands. Calloused, rough. They were the hands of someone who held a weapon. Who worked hard.

_How could I lose control like that? What if..what if I'd.._

The idea was just to terrible to think about.

_You said you wouldn't cry. No one would hurt you again. Why are you being weak?_

"I don't know! I don't know!" He put his hands to his forehead, fingers in his hair. The blond was in turmoil. Hungry, upset, confused.

Naruto had broken a promise; the hardest kind to keep-an oath to yourself.

Secretly, some part of him knew..though he refused to recognize the thought:

He was falling apart.

----

Kyuubi couldn't help but give a show of fangs (demons never smiled); finally the brat knew! The feeling of being trapped, in a cage. No contact with the outside world.

It was suffocating, being in a cramped dark place.

---

Like a breath, a thought brushed his mind. _Go to another village. Try again._

"Why?"

He wasn't expecting an answer. "I thought you never gave up? Are you a liar as well as a coward."

Naruto was to far gone to argue with the damn dog. In fact, the blond was beginning to suspect that only _he_ could see it.

The genin was actually starting to be glad the dog was bugging him. He was lonely,and misery loved company. He was reminded to much of his childhood and how he was a ghost, without anyone to talk to.

Still, when you fall into a depression, it was for a reason. "What's the point?" The blond said petulantly. A cloud of sadness seemed to follow him.

"Is there a point to anything?"

Once again, Naruto was asked a question he couldn't answer.

---

"Kyuubi?"

Suddenly he was in the familiar confines of his mind.

**"Pathetic. You cave so easily when faced with my situation, little worm."**

Naruto glared up at the fox.

Faceless fangs and glowing red eyes? Check.

Big ass cage? Check.

Sewer tunnels? Check.

Pipes? Check.

Water up to his ankles? Do you even have to ask.

"What do you want, fox?" It seems he was asking this question a lot.

**"I have my pride, and my honor. I refuse to be confined in such a spineless being such as you."** The sadistic ancient voice rumbled. **"_You _are not Uzumaki Naruto."**

"The hell I'm not! That's all I've wanted all my life! I never _wanted _to be Uzumaki Naruto, demon kid, unwanted orphan! Kid with the evil fox in his stomach!" He shouted angrily. Bitter sarcasm laced his voice. "Who wouldn't want to be me!"

The Kyuubi seemed to find this amusing. **"What a fool you are. I was going to let you see the true situation you face..but now, I will just let you flounder around."**

The water suddenly started rushing becoming deeper. It was soon covering his head and spinning. The last thing he heard before being thrust from the seal was this:

**"Good-bye, not-Uzumaki-Naruto!"**

---

Naruto lay on the grass, just thinking for a long time.

And then as the sun set, he headed back towards the village.

---

"Everything is falling into place."

---

Naruto soon reached the familiar place. First thing was food. How he was still standing was a mystery to him. Or how he was still alive for that matter.

Before coming here, he washed his face so it wouldn't be so dirty. No time to completely immerse himself in the shockingly cold water. And he left his weapons pouch and kunai holder in a hollowed out tree. The blond didn't want to risk hurting anyone on accident.

"Oh, you poor dear." His head whipped around. _Oh, just an old woman._

By now he'd accepted that the dog was a shadow that came and go. Mainly it just followed him silently now. Which made him a bit paranoid cause he was always being watched now.

Nice. And creepy. Just what everyone wants; an insane stalker dog following them around.

_Yep. My life is perfect._

And with that he followed her in, not noticing that he couldn't really remember her features.

---

"Thank-you." Naruto felt a bit awkward. He'd never been invited to dinner before. And apparently the little girl _(the one he nearly killed)_, Nina, was her grand-daughter.

The blond was welcomed with open arms. The pair lived in a small cottage made of stone. It consisted of two rooms: one for eating, and one for sleeping.

Solemnly, the Hakkyou-inu had followed him in.

Right now he was seated at a low wooden table, and Nina was helping her Grandmother serve stew.

And damn, it smelled real good.

"No taking my soup." He muttered at Fuuten. Naruto hadn't forgotten the river incident.

The dog just sat by his feet, tail whapping. As if he were a _normal_ dog. _Like that'll ever happen._

_----_

_Words: 2,001_

Okay, I forced my-self to stop. I know you're thinking:Why?! But I have my reasons. I would have kept going on and on and gotten all scatter brained. Plus that means I'll have the next chapter out even faster. So Hell Yeah! I have a couple questions:

Do you want the dog to have a name? (I already have a suggestion and ideas of my own. feel free to offer names).

Does this not seem..I dunno. Crappy?/Anyone catch the vague full metal alchemist reference? (some parts were really awkward to me)/(it will give you a HUGE hint about what's coming up)

Please will someone guess what word is Sarutobi represented by inn chapter 6? (the one naruto forgets; I'll give you a hint-four letters).

What do you think the creature(s) is/are, and what are Akatsuki's nefarious plans? (I'm really curious about what you think, any crazy theories? No spoilers, Saph!)

Alright, I'm thinking of putting another story up (still working the kinks out of the Harry Potter xover dragaman) So which would you rather see?

Summary: AU Naruto's parents are alive. Cause Sarutobi did the sealing. So what? Things are only worse for the jinchuuriki and Konoha is plunged into war.

Pairings/Status: (past?) MinaKushi, others undecided. You can have influence if you let me know./I have several pages written (a chapter, maybe two).

Or:

Summary: AU. Sasuke get's to keep his family. But is the price of a child's happiness anothers sanity?

Alt. Summary: Au. Itachi's a failed genius; Sasuke must live with that shame, Sakura is miserable, Naruto bitter.

Pairings: Idk. Whatever. Nothing written down yet, but I definitely know where it's going.

So the first one, second, or both?

7/14/09


	9. What it could have been like

7thDwarf: hehe..you were close on the words, but not quite! And as for the other part.. you might have just hit the nail on the head. :)

JSinuYasha: Thanks! As for bets..well, it's something like that. Not quite.

SaphireWhiteWolf: Haha. Mystery solved. She was the nameless reviewer (ff . net was acting up). Congratulations on catching the obscure (?) reference!

--- Chapter 9 What it could have been like.

He took a deep breath, wafting the scents gently to his nose. This was a meal to be savored. Naruto hadn't eaten in days.

The blond muttered a hoarse, "Itadekimisu*," Before taking a piece of meat from the bowl with borrowed chopsticks.

Nina blew a puff of air over her bowl to cool the broth, and then took a bite of noodles, and her Grandmother took a boiled carrot.

The flavor blossomed in his mouth, and the genin found himself in pure bliss. 'So good.' He thought almost dreamily. The blond had a stupid, goofy smile on his face.

"So, what is your name young travelor? Surely you must have a wonderful story to tell."

Brief embarrassment washed through him, starting from the pit of his stomach to his chest, continuing vertically to his head. It dispersed his earlier joy. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm..trying to get back home." Yes, he knew it was foolish, yes he knew the information could be used against him.

But he had an inner sap and it had to be appeased. Plus they were so kind, how could they possibly..

"I see. I'm Fushi Mako." the elderly lady said.

"What's that?" Nina asked in a childish voice, pointing at his hi-ate*.

Naruto inwardly cursed himself for his stupidity. Of all the things..this was the most obvious and would give him away to the most drunken fools.

So lie, deny, trick? Or the unconsidered: tell truth.

_Or, you could just get rid of any witnesses._

The deadly voice didn't have an inflection of any kind, and he couldn't determine whether it was male or female.

Naruto might have changed, but he wasn't willing to kill these people. Strangers that he'd received kindness from for no reason.

Finally he decided a half-truth would be best. "It's something very important to me. My brother gave it to me as a sign that I had grown up, and gotten stronger." Technically none of it was a lie..hopefully neither one of them had knowledge of shinobi. It would be the Grandmother he'd have to worry about; Nina was just a child.

So relieved was he when none of them questioned his answer, that he didn't notice the knowing look in Mako's eye.

Hungrily, Naruto dove back into his stew, mind focused on the task at hand. The blond took a long draught from his cup, enjoying the feeling of the cool water gliding down his throat.

Realizing that a silence had overcome the room, the genin racked his mind for something to say. He didn't wish to seem impolite. And just eating like a pig would definitely be considered rude.

What were safe topics? Nothing about Konoha, or any of his exploits associated with it. Kyuubi was a closed topic, no brainer. Family. 'That's always the safe way to go.' After all, he didn't have any. An orphan alone was more believable than a wandering boy with a family waiting somewhere.

"Who are you're parents, Nina? Do they live here with your Grandmother?"

Nina bit her lip looking down at the table. No table cloth, and the wood was smooth. No distracting swirls then that could morph into different shapes in the light. "No." Her voice was soft.

_Shit._ Now this was awkward. The blond continued down his set path warily. "Are you just visiting your Grandmother then?"

A little bit of light came back into her innocent eyes. Nina nodded. "Daddy is away."

"What about your mom?"

Instantly, he knew he'd gone to far. From the look on the elderly woman's face, this was dangerous territory.

Naruto had always been fascinated by families and watched with longing, trying to figure out the inner workings of them. But this might be one he didn't want to figure out.

"Mommy is gone." A thoughtful frown was on her young face. Oblivious to her Grandmother's upset face, she continued, "She went away, when I was this little-Here she held up two fingers- on a trip. Daddy won't say when she's coming back."

More than likely, Naruto realized, Nina's mother was dead. And this was just a kind way of shielding her from the reality that her mother was never coming back.

"Nina..I'm sure your mom is trying to come home to you this minute."

Great. Not only did he lie to himself, but now he was making false promises to innocent little girls.

---

She whipped her tail around impatiently; it hit the hit the ground constantly making a whap-whap sound. Father had promised! But things were going slowly;far too slowly.

---

"You have a rather impressive list; weakling; coward; quitter. And now you are a liar."

Naruto really wished the dog would just shut up.

He had nearly forgotten about it. Of course, now it just had to pipe up, moments after the "family" discussion with Nina. As a result, he choked on his soup.

Which went over well; things had been going _wonderfully_ for him the past few days if you'd forgotten.

"Are you okay, Naruto-niisan?"

What. The. Hell.

He wasn't sure if that was him, the voice, or the dog. Anyway, whoever it was, they were in total agreement. No one had ever warmed up to them that fast and ..she'd called him "nii-san" to boot. Like he was family or something. "Uh..y-yeah. I'm fine, Nina."

"Liar liar pants on fire."

"Shut up!" He hissed under his breath; Naruto had forgotten he was actually in the presence of people. The last few days all the blond had for companionship was grass and stone.

Oh, and the occasional tree.

The hakyou-inu didn't count.

It was like Kakashi, only worse.

"Are you talking to someone young man?" His host asked in a tone akin to concern. The concern people held for those not all quite there.

"Ah, yes," his mind raced, "I'm just tired." Also, not a lie.

After a moment to process this, Mako nodded in understanding. "Of course, it is late; I'm sorry to keep you up for the sake of a chattering old lady. Please, let Nina-chan show you to our guest room."

The hell? This day just kept getting weirder. None of his shinobi training had prepared him for this.

Little old ladies that had a cute grandaughter(which, by the way, in a fit of paranoia, he'd almost killed) giving him a free meal (and even offering cookies).

It just didn't come up in the "How To Be a Jinchuuriki" curriculum.

"Learning How to Be Hated, Despised, and Otherwise Unwanted: All the Tips You'll Ever Want or Need." was the first chapter.

It was also next to: "My Older Brother Killed My Family, Scarred Me for Life, and Fucked up My Mind Entirely: What do you do next?" in the "Konoha's Most Ridiculous and Insane Characters" archive.

The first chapter? "How To Deal With Fangirls". Also note the disclaimer: "Unless You are Uchiha Sasuke, this should not concern you as rabid fangirls that find emo's cool shouldn't be trying to spy on you in the shower, stalk you, steal your dirty boxers, or otherwise harassing you."

"If you are experiencing these problems, but aren't Uchiha Sasuke, nor are fluent in "Hn" Speak, please consult your local Fanfiction writer. Clearly you are in the wrong story, or have been turned into a Mary-sue." the announcer said.

Naruto blinked. The announcer..was the dog.

"What..What are you going on about?"

And then it shrugged. "This is _your_ hallucination."

Then he blinked, and found himself laying on a fuuton. How had he gotten here? Naruto panicked for a moment, not able to remember. The blond calmed down, recalling his last memories. _I must be in the guest room in Mako-san's house. _"Wow that was really weird." In his half-awake state, he couldn't find it freaky that he had just experienced a complete distortion of reality.

---

"Any day now, I'm sure of it." He bowed respectfully to his leader. This man was powerful, and it wouldn't be good to question his methods.

Pein nodded. "Good. Call Itachi then."

"Yes, Pein-sama."

---

Kyuubi wondered how much longer the brat would hold out. It was a shame, really. Uzumaki Naruto was already cracking..bursting at the seams, and bellow, not-Uzumaki Naruto was ready to burst forth through him. Like a snake shed's its skin, Uzumaki Naruto would fall away; like humans shrugged off their clothes.

---

Agony. Pure agony. She twisted and writhed in pain. Horror-at what she'd become. And at her husbands hands no less. Pure madness. Revulsion tore through her, and she had only one wish. She parted her now twisted lips, and in a hoarse, low voice let her will be known in two words. The only two words she'd said for years. "Kill me."

---

Naruto groaned. The discomfort hadn't let itself be known before, but now his stomach was distended. The blond was uncomfortably full after having an empty stomach for so long. It was stretched stretch stretched. The genin thought this might have happened sooner, rather than later. "Oh." He moaned. No running around for him today. Strangely he felt weak.

Despite the rest and replinishing food. Naruto shook his head; probably because it had been so long since he had a healthy dose of food and sleep. He couldn't think properly.

Once more the dog appeared.

"Is this a nightmare?"

Really, he never thought he could apply such hatred and dislike onto one creature in such concentration.

"Perhaps."

And then it disappeared. He wanted to scream. What was the point of that?! Was the dog trying to drive him crazy?

"Oh, if only you knew." And then a soft chuckle. Naruto's head whipped around. He knew that voice!

But no one was there.

"Ok, calm down Naruto. Think. Think." Obviously the voice was real. (He wasn't going to consider the implications if it wasn't)._ So someone had to make the voice._ Could it be the dog? It always seemed to be tormenting him when not being relatively friendly and just confusing the hell out of him. (puzzling and annoying seemed to be the hakkyou-inu's permanent settings). Was it possible that it could alter and 'throw' it's voice?

Then it clicked. _Genjutsu. _But how to break it..

_Does it really matter?_

The voice jarred him from his thoughts.

"What do you mean?!Of course it matters!"

Naruto had just jumped off a very high canyon.

Not literally hopefully. Cause that would be bad.

_Why?_

Why why why! The question was completely nagging him day and night! Why this, why that! (why was he hated, why had the Yondaime picked him!).

Knock. His head jerked up. "Naruto-niisan?" _Nina._

She was obviously real. Maybe he'd just imagined that he had heard the Akatsuki..

The six (? he had never gotten her age) year old opened the door and came in. "Hi Nina."

She gave a shy goofy little-kid smile. "Good morning Naruto-niisan! Gramma said we could pick berries today! Do you wan' ta go?" Nina was holding the hem of her dress.

How could he resist. "Well, what kind of berries are we getting then?"

Her face lit up adorably. "All kinds of berries!" She latched onto his hand. "Strawberries, black berries, blue berries.." He let out a small laugh at her enthusiasm and let himself be dragged out of the room.

---

_Words:2,170_

Ok, so it will be a three part event, not two. I just couldn't get to it. I know what I want to happen, it's just getting there is the problem. And my spirit was dampened at first. I really appreciate the three reviews guys!! *hugs* I just wish someone had said which idea they prefer as that has been bugging me. I can see why people hold chapters hostage for reviews. I swear never to do it though, however tempting! Actually thought the cannibilsm scene in Chapter 7 (think) would have gotten some comments. *shrugs* Oh I would like answered please:

Was the jincuuriki/sasuke book unnessacary? (kind of came out of nowhere, I decided to roll with it. You should really pray for naruto's mental health.)(was my humor any good? or just annoying?)

Too fillerish? (although it had a few important parts. I kind of pushed back the 'meat' of it to the next chapter.)

*were they spelled correctly? Also, read Barfly and Friendship Story by Letta. Both will brighten your day!

Any predictions? All suggestions are welcome.

And please: would you prefer Worthless Gold (Naruto's parents are alive, he's still a jinchuriki, but his life is only worse and Konoha is plunged into war, Heavy AU) or Switch (also Au. More of a chain of events thing as Itachi is a failed genius rather than prodigy, Naruto's more wary than in canon, and generally all the members of team 7 have altered personalities.) Both contain people that have mental illness (some induced, others worsened by events that didn't happen in canon). Actually all my stories seem to have someone going mad..

7/18/09


	10. Tired of This Nightmare

SaphireWhiteWolf: At first I thought you might be my sole reviewer. T.T But that's not the case!You have provided names, ideas, and given me reviews! Take a slice of cake!

7thDwarf: I'm happy to hear from you! Vacation? That explains everything! Don't worry, I just got back from a vacation myself.

Rizember: For such a happy-humor gal, you sure like angsty stuff! Lol. This is like a mega-chapter, hope it was worth the wait. Yay! Someone commented on Zetsu*yay, cookie!!!*

I would like to dedicate this chapter to the three of you guys! Y'all really cheered me up. So Riz, 7d, and Saph, be good and share this, unlike me and litewarrior..hehe.

---Chapter 10 Tired of This Nightmare

The field was not unlike the plain with the keening whistling he'd been on a week prior. Fresh green grass covered the meadow, stretching to the forest four hundred meters away. Yellow flowers dotted the area periodically. For once the weather was comfortable, sunny with a cool breeze, and a few clouds in a blue sky.

Nina had brought two wooden buckets (not unlike what would be found in a well) and insisted on carrying them herself. Naruto had relented and was instructed to follow her lead.

"This is the stawberry patch. Gramma an' me planted these," She explained, a bit of pride breaking through. "Daddy got us the seeds."

Nina was no longer in a dress but a more practical pair of shorts and loose shirt. Her boots let out little thuds as they hit the ground. The older blond had forgone his jacket and his shirt was being washed by Nina's grandmother. So he was dressed only in tattered orange pants, rolled up to his knees. He crouched down, content to let Nina show him what to do.

She giggled, watching as juice dribbled down his chin. "These are really good!" His eyes were bright.

_I could just stay like this, I don't need Konoha._

An ugly thought reared it's head. _Yeah? And what happens when the Akatsuki comes?_ And his fantasty burst into pieces, like shattered glass.

_Like your dream._

The smile slipped off his face. "Yeah, do I really want to be Hokage anymore?"

_No._

"What's so hard about two little letters?"

He was officially avoiding all conversations with the dog.

Instead, he went back to Nina, paying attention to her. Because it was just easier that way.

Next they went to a blueberry patch, and then found a bunch of blackberry bushes.

Sometime along the way, Naruto drifted off. He never realized when he lost consciousness.

---

Triumphant, she landed. Soon! Yes soon she would be there!

---

Kyuubi's grin only grew wider. (not that demons smiled or anything.)

---

Bright. He blinked his eyes. The blond whipped his head around. _Where..?_ Then it clicked as his immediate memories of what he was doing before falling asleep came back. "Idiot!" Dozing off like that..

_Totally like an idiot genin; weakling!_

He ignored the voice's input. Then he noticed the lack of familiar faint pressure on his forehead. His hiate was gone! Impossible! It had been on..when?

_Great! First I can't remember how long it's been, now this!_ A feeling of dread washed over him. _What if I'm losing my memories!_

It wasn't _that _unheard of after all, was it? He stopped breathing. Shinobi in the field went crazy all the time. But they still held onto their identity; even a faint idea of who they were..

"Don't be silly; I probably lost it a long time ago, right?" He was actually expecting an answer.

_Akatsuki. They have it. You left it in our room._

Naruto nodded. "Well, duh! I can't believe I didn't think of that!" The blond nodded happily at the conclusion. It made sense after all.

He also noted with a glance that the damn bracelet was gone. Now he froze. "That doesn't add up at all." Come to think of it, the bracelet had been absent from his wrist for a while.

The blond pinched himself. "Alright. Can't be dreaming, cause I just woke up from a nap." Ok, that was sound and logical. Now what? What were the other options, possibilities?

"How do you know?"

The dog, as always, appeared randomly.

"Cause you're here. And I don't hear the voice when I'm awake." More sound logic. What was the hakkyou-inu's problem? All of it made perfect sense.

Fuuten gave him a long look before shrugging. Then disappeared with a loud sharp _**crack!**_ this time.

_Why worry about it? It's just one detail._

The blond nodded. It always went better when he listened to others advice. "Of course we're right. It's just one tiny thing anyway."

Well, it had been a really high cliff.

"Wait. Where's Nina?"

The voice didn't answer, and Naruto felt a wiggle of doubt squirm in. What if the voice really wasn't good to listen to?

The blond blinked, a suddenly, fleetingly, he was thrust into pure darkness. And then before he could comprehend anything, Naruto was back in the meadow. So fast, he couldn't even make sense of what he'd felt in that instant. A massive whirlpool of sensations, that were unidentifiable. The whole experience was strange. The genin knew one thing though:

He did _not_ want to go back there.

Where-ever 'there' was anyway.

Dread filled him. All of the sudden, all he wanted to do was find Nina-and flee in the opposite direction as fast as possible.

---

Naruto absolutely tore through the fields to the cottage. And then proceeded to rip through it. A strange desperation filled him. The need, it was so strong.

He burst out the door; nowhere inside.

_Outside somewhere?!_ The blond thought wildly.

"Nii-san?" And it was here that the twelve-year-old found her.

Relief flooded through him; from his eyes which saw her, to his mind confirming it, shooting to his heart, and racing though the rest of him.

Red-brown hair, shining grey eyes, cute little dimple; It could be no other. The gap-toothed smile made him warm inside.

"Wha's wrong?" God, she was so cute. Her eyes were full of concern; it was that child's way of just knowing when others (especially older kids) were upset.

He shook his head, stupid grin on his face. "Oh nothing. Nothing, Nina."

Then, her task of dispensing comfort gone, she pouted. "I was gonna surprise you!"

"Really? I didn't see your Grandmother anywhere."

"Daddy's here! I want you to meet him!" Nina squealed, oblivious to what he said.

"Ni-" The blond cut himself off. No use worrying her. Maybe she was off seeing a doctor, or friend, maybe?

Such an innocent visit he shouldn't concern himself with.

Nina grabbed his hand, leading him down a path he hadn't seen before. She swung his hand giddily, chattering on about this and that like a pretty bird.

While the Grandmother's cottage was cozy, but still nothing to write home about, this was..something else.

Majestic.

Tall, imposing, and sharp.

The paved path led to the front of the house, which had unused garden's in front of them.

Then, Naruto realized, he saw what must have been her actual house that she lived in regularly.

"Wow.." he mouthed. _She lives here?!_

Nina tugged on his hand; Naruto had come to a complete stop. "Come on, Nii-chan." That shook the blond from his stupor.

"Right. Show me the way, Nina."

"Don't go in. That place reeks of evil."

Everything seemed to freeze, like in a paused movie. Or as if someone had hit a button, stopping time. Only Naruto and Fuuten were immune to it.

Slowly, he spun around (for some reason it didn't occur to him that Nina might notice, but someone had hit the pause button, so it didn't really seem to matter). "Why?"

Was so impossible that it could be a good thing? That something _nice _was going to occur to him for once in his life? Why couldn't the blasted hakkyou go away? "Leave me alone! What's it matter?"

The dog only shook his head vexingly. "The darkest reside in that sunny abode."

Naruto growled at the words, feeling his ire skyrocket. "No!" he irrational ignored the warning. For once in his life, couldn't they just leave him alone? "Stop trying to destroy my dreams!"

Fuuten said no more, but refused to go a step closer.

"Konoha has already done that." The voice only mirrored similar sentiments.

_Kill the dog. Even if it is right-the leaf has stripped you of happiness._

And with those words, someone hit the play button.

---

"Are you sure this isn't a bit early, Pein-sama?" Itachi voiced his concerns in a detached voice. (as always; his emotions had been killed a long time ago)

_("Nii-chan?Why'd you do it Nii-chan?STO-)_

He cut that line of thought off rather abruptly.

---

Kosai was a rather clever, shrewd man.

Or, at least, that was the impression Naruto got.

Tall, sharp, and a bit on the thin side, and angular. He was just like his house, actually. He shared a few traits with his daughter though; Red-brown hair (though his was curly) and rather short. He also had the same nose as his daughter (but it was rather crooked as if it was broken in a fight once). His eye though, were different, a cool mint green. _Nina must get her eyes from her mom._

Kosai stared right back, giving his own personal examination. Naruto didn't break eye contact however, no matter how tense he felt under the near glare. The blond could see the carpet was a faded red from the corner of his eye. It felt scratchy under his feet. The thick uneasy energy in the air was obvious to all, sans Nina, and it held an oppressing feeling.

With a chill, the jinchuuriki found that the sensation was eerily familiar.

The Nina's father blinked, and as many have said before "The spell over the room was broken." It snaked away, but never truly left, only lessened to not be so obvious, slipping into the shadows. Things were more comfortable that way. He still felt like he was being watched.

Naruto glanced behind him..

But the dog wasn't there.

Why was that so disturbing? _It's what we wanted._

Faintly he nodded; it was reassuring to have someone give him advice once more. Nice that someone had his back. The damn dog had been getting on his nerves anyway. Why be bothered? Naruto saw nothing evil here.

Kosai's lips curled upwards in a garbled version of a smile. "Hello, young Uzumaki." He gestured to the small girl. "My Nina has told me many things about you."

"Oh." Out of habit (cause stuff in the past had never boded well when it came to this stuff), the blond chuckled nervously. "Has she?"

He seemed to pick up on the young blond's discomfort. "Nothing bad. There is nothing we should know about I hope."

_I tried to kill her, an evil demon lives inside me, and I might be going rouge. _Nope. He had a perfectly clean slate. "Nah. Haha..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

Luckily, a perfectly timed distraction came to his rescue.

"Meow." A calico cat came up, rubbing Kosai's leg.

His eye twitched, recalling Tora.

"Hello, Tana-chan." Kosai greeted softly. "Nya!" was his reply.

_Right. Not the dog. _Naruto watched it with less concern now as it rubbed up against Nina's father. _It can't talk._

Yellow eyes flashed. Okay, no messing with the cat.

"Yes, this is our Tana-chan."

Nina then came running in (when and where she disappeared to, Naruto hadn't noticed). "Nii-chan, come and see!"

---

Naruto sat out alone in the forest surrounding the mansion. It was that odd twilight time when the sun had set, but night had yet to come. The blond leaned against the tree contemplating.

He was going to become the Hokage, to get everyone's acknowledgement and respect. But thinking back, more than anything he only picked that as his goal for two reasons:

The blond wanted to be just the kind of man jii-chan was. The Fourth may have been his hero, but jii-chan was the kind of Hokage he strived to one day be.*

And two, he just wanted to proved those suckers wrong. A giant screw-you to all the ones who had ever disrespected or harmed him in any matter.

After all, what could be a better form of revenge? Even to those that may have looked down at him purely for his social status (orphan, clanless, a street rat), it would be a giant slap in the face.

"Kami, I'm starting to sound emo now." Just like Sasuke.

Despite all his faults, Sasuke was pretty smart, wasn't he? The dark-raven-haired genin was his rival and opposite in all things. But the Uchiha also had the one thing Naruto craved. So maybe he had the right idea.

It never occured to him all the tragedy surrounding those who went down the wrong paths.

_But this isn't the wrong path._

He wasnt' sure if that was him, or the voice. In that one moment the lines that separated them blurred.

Naruto shed his skin, and a new better thing emerged.

---

The genin opted to sleep outside. Secretly, he just found Kosai ..odd. He gave off a feeling Naruto didn't like. Consequently, the blond didn't like being around him.

_Why should we return? We are happy here._

Naruto frowned slightly. He couldnt' simply nod and get this over with. Important decisions shouldn't be made with such haste.

The dog materialized. "What are your reasons?"

God, was this thing his conscious or something?

"I have to be the next Hokage!" Even that excuse sounded lame in his ears.

"You still live with evil, don't you?"

And Naruto had nothing to say to that as he didn't have an inkling of what the dog meant.

"I have my friends," he continued, "Sakura-chan-he smiled fondly and blushed-and Sasuke-teme." The blond scowled a bit. "Even Kakashi-sensei, even if he is late all the time."

_He ignores you in favor of Uchiha._

No us? The worried him for some reason.

_Hatake does not know of 'us'._

The voice soothed.

"As long as you reside with evil..you will walk down unhappy paths. But, it isn't my decision to make. Hmm." The dog was being unusually serious. "So many choices, so many choices. Of course, it doesn't matter anyway! Doomed is as doomed does!" Fuuten unravelled, only the teeth remaining. The disembodied mouth lunged forward; Naruto flinched,waiting for them to sink into his flesh and bite him, but at the last minute they reversed, and did a loop. So it came as a surprise when they slammed into him, straight into his forehead.

A cold feeling washed over him, and then it passed.

Irrationally, he thought the dog might have imparted a warning.

The voice dissuaded him from such thoughts and prompted him, bringing up it's early point.

"Kakashi-sensei recommended me for the chuunin exams!" Naruto argued. "He wouldn't have done that if he didn't think I was ready! He believed in me."

_He refused to train you, in favor of The Uchiha._ it pointed out.

"He taught me the Tree Climbing exercise," the blond said weakly.

_Everyone on your squad learned that._

Naruto was beginning to see the truth of his own warped perception of reality.

"Sharingans only," the blond joked, somewhat bitter.*

Even he himself wanted to be like Sasuke. Was it really a wonder that the "last Uchiha" was loved and praised, while he was overlooked?

"I can't go rouge though. Iruka-sensei wouldn't be happy. Plus, they'd hunt me down." The last part was a mere after thought.

The voice was silent. This Naruto was fresh and new, and more easily influenced by ideas of jealousy and wrong-doings. But it couldn't go that far, not yet. The foolish old man was gone, but Naruto was still tethered down by Iruka, hampering _them._

_---_

The hell?

When he woke up, he was inside, not outside.

Alarm bells were disabled though.

Naruto was in a bed after all, and it was comfortable. Warm, in the clean sheets. Much better than the nightmare he'd experienced earlier.

The blond banished from his mind.

Nina appeared in the room before he could think any more on such matters.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her face contorted to that of fear, mouth open in a scream.

Nothingness.

---

Ugh.

Naruto opened his eyes quickly, recalling the tortured apparition of the girl. The sun beat down on him.

Wait.

The sun was beating down on him?

"Can't you ever color _inside_t the lines?"

Dog. Okay. Yay! He was just _so_ thrilled.

"No. What are you talking about?"

"Hm. In simple human terms: can't you determine the lines between reality and fiction?"

The hakkyou-inu literally become sand and was blown away, though no wind was present.

"What the hell did that mean?"

No answer this time.

"I should probably head back to the house," he said to himself, feeling a bit lonely.

After a quick _lovely_ merry romp through the woods in which several woodland creatures were granted a swift brutal death, Naruto came to The Mansion.

He skidded to a halt, kicking up a dust storm. Without hesitation, the blond went up to the porch and peeked through a window in sneaky-shinobi style. Hm. No one there. The lights were on though, indicating either someone was home, or had been taken with sudden force. An abrupt departure with no chance to react seemed to fit with what his paranoia was screaming at him: Trap!!

First, just to be sure no immediate surprise was awaiting him, the blond brought his fingers together in a familiar ram seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three other copies of him popped into existence.

Wasting no time to examine to mirror images of himself (it'd be a good chance to gage how bad he looked), the genin was quick to direct them. "I need you to scout out the perimeter, and make sure it's safe to enter the house."

"Hai, boss." The three clones chorused.

They set out performing their tasks, and Naruto took a calming breath. It was nice, almost, to feel the adrenaline course through his veins, like fire. Battle-thrill, he secretly called it when he watched the older ninja in the training grounds sparring. Not that they knew he was there.

His eyes snapped open.

_Alright Naruto, time to do this!_

In his mind it was like a mission. A mission, when he hadn't done missions for a very long time. Hopefully, the blond wasn't _too_ rusty.

But, then again, being on the run from, and being held hostage by S-rank criminals had to count for something. Meh, it was like extra-credit or something, to make up for all the times he was vadalizing- er, skipping class. Sharp. That was the word. Yeah, he had to be _sharp._

_Damn, I'm good. _Naruto thought. His kage bunshin soon came back, ready to report.

"Nothing boss." Was the collective response. Although one did keep rambling on about a creepy clown mask in Kosai's room and the lack of ramen.

The blond dismissed them, and they dispersed in a poof of smoke.

First things first, Nina's room.

He bust through the door, abandoning stealth as the house seemed to be empty. Not to mention he was impatient. Something was nagging at him; probably the fact that he was completely going against all his instincts, that were only augmented by his shinobi training.

The blond's eye flickered quickly over the room. Carpet, walls, ceiling. Nothing suspicious; no obvious sign of a struggle. He looked under the furniture but to no avail.

The genin headed to the kitchen for more clues. No leads there. Unwashed dishes and leftovers, that was it.

Several other rooms on the first floor yielded nothing.

He dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

The blond shook his head; only guest rooms were on the second level anyway. He should know that as that was were he'd been staying. Not to mention Kosai had told him that during the impromptu tour Nina had insisted on. Naruto shook his head. This was getting him nowhere.

_I should've just headed straight to their rooms in the first place._

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Four clones appeared. The genin was swiftly snapping out orders. "You two," He pointed to the ones on the left, "fan out. You other two split up. Check the basement and the attic."

Seeing that their creator was in a horrible "I'll-snap-some-necks-if-you-don't-get-moving" mood, they left without comment.

The entire house, it seemed, was empty. Devoid of life.

Finally, he found a lead. Something was underneath the house. Below the basement, according to his clone.

---

"What..what is this?" He whispered in horror and disgust.

Naruto had quickly found the secret passageway in the basement that lead down here..to..this place. Imagine "evil lab" and a healthy dose of "creepy" , "medieval" and "dungeon", and you had what he was looking at. It had dim lighting, cages everywhere and tubes filled with liquid that gave off a faint greenish glow.

The blond's eyes were locked onto the deformity in front of him. The worst traits of a human female, dog, and reptile were mixed together. All ugly, all over. The front/upper half was vaguely humanoid, but the skin was a sick scaly ash-colored mess. Patches of skin seemed to be tattered, and raw. The face looked like wax that had been allowed to melt a bit, sag and twist, before cooling it. It's eyes were human.

They screamed, and screamed and screamed. The eyes would forever haunt him.

This monster..had once been human.

Unable to tear his eyes from it, his eyes continued to drink in the nightmarish sight before him: the body was half twisted in the wrong direction, a short mouth/snout protruding from it's face. Naruto wondered if it could speak, and decided he hoped it could not. The ears were higher on the head than they should be, and a light coat of fur covered them. They were pointed, but neither human nor dog. The hands and feet were attached to too-long limbs, and almost had a webbed look (the fingers were partially fused together), and had short, thick, pointed nails. The tail was short, twisted, and covered in a grotesque mix of scale and fur.

The bottom half was beast, animal. The legs were short compared to the arms. The monster was caught between walking on two legs and four; neither suited it. A half-crawl was what it managed at best.

And then, the mouth opened. The teeth were a mangle of dog and human, and the tongue was forked. "Kill me."

The voice..it was a pale imitation of a human woman..but at it's core, still a person.

Naruto didn't know what the appropriate emotions he was supposed to be feeling. Pity? Disgust? "Disturbing" didn't even nearly cover it. With a start, he realized he was trembling.

"Kill me!" This time the rasp was louder, more urgent, intent.

The blond reached for a kunai, only to realize his kunai holder wasn't there. _Dammit!_ Had he ever retrieved it from the tree? A crushing weight fell down on him as he figured out what he was feeling: fear. And he was weaponless, to boot. Naruto was kicking himself for his carelessness that border-lined on stupidity.

More than anything, he wanted to back away, and run out of the place screaming, to hell with his pride!

Clap. Clap. Clap. Naruto spun around, seeing who could be applauding such a thing.

Kosai!?

"I see you've found my latest project. Isn't she beautiful, my dear wife?"

What..what the fuck? What...what the hell? Disgust and horror washed over him, down to his dirty rotten core.

"How can you do that?!" He shouted in anger, hiding his fear. This man could give Orochimaru a run for his money as far as "twisted experiments" went. Naruto wished he had a kunai and could just stab it into his flesh; slit his throat and watch his blood gush out and stab him over and over.

"How can you not see the genius? I'm combining ninjutsu and fuinjutsu to recreate a lost kinjutsu!" Kosai raved. If it was possible to rave without raising your voice.

"That's just wrong!"

It was sick, but as much as he wanted to kill his wife (to put everyone out of there misery) Naruto did not want to touch that thing with his bare hands, as wussy as it sounded. Could he even kill the thing bare-handed anyway? The blond would have to do it with chakra.

Kage Bunshin would be moot for a direct attack. All it would make was more of him. Maybe if they transformed into something? Given the man's interests, Sexy Jutsu probably wouldn't be effective either. Harem Jutsu was just an upgrade..and summoning would pose the same problem as Kage Bunshin.

_'Damn'_

All that left was Rasengan which was _not_ finished, _not_ perfected, and his most unreliable technique. Great.

Someone just socked him in the stomach. That had to be the explanation. Cause the thing stumbling out from behind Kosai, could _not_ be Nina.

"Nii-chan?"

"Isn't it wonderful?" Kosai asked conversationally, stroking.._her.._hair. "I fused her and my dear mother along with Tana-chan."

Nina's back was stooped, and she was taller than before. Wrinkles and bags were under her eyes, but the rest of her looked much younger. The chest was flat, but the arms were twisted the wrong way, and were more like cat's paws than human hands. The..tail, was bare, raggedly thin fur cover her back, and Nina's tongue was now like a cats.

Naruto couldn't stand looking at her anymore. A young-old person that was half monster.

"Why so sad?" The Grandmother's voice came out of the mouth now. "Nina-chan has helped her Grandmother obtain youth! I can now live again unhindered by old bones and joints."

He was gonna throw up-He was gonna throw up-hewasgonnathrowup! Naruto was dizzy, sick, and felt like crying and screaming at the same time. Wrong. Wrong. On so many levels. His brain must have been in shock, only short sentences and a slow sense of horror being processed. No. No. No.

Nina. There was no way to get her back. The only thing that could release her was death.

But he couldn't do that. Not her! Kill her? No..no. But only a monster remained where his cheerful almost-sister was.

"N..Nina?"

"Wha's wrong, Nii-chan? You seem sad."

Even her voice was different.. could she not register what had been done to her? All she'd babbled about was how great her daddy was, and that he was gonna find her mommy.

The blond couldn't take it. Naruto was overwhelmed, completely overwhelmed. Too much, all at once.

_Outtahere..Get me out of here!_ It was all he wanted, his single most heart felt desire. At this moment, he would give anything just to disappear.

Become a ghost.

The blackness came and swallowed him, and Naruto was back there.

Back in that place he never wanted to return to.

-----

Words: 5,119

Damn. That was a bitch to edit. I just really wanted to get this "arc" over with though. I'm thinking one or two more "mini arcs" and then we'll be at the reveal *winks at saph* My hand hurts now T.T

Oh, the word for Sarutobi (the one Naruto can't remember) is "hope" for those who care. My head is just blank right now. Oh! I found a friend here that I know in real-life. Her account is Endless Raindrops. How weird is that? Hehe..finally I'm getting into darker stuff in my writing. Was the dog good? Oh and I did a play on Kosai's name. Was he evil enough? Er..I can't think of any "prompt" questions. Can you just review guys? I'm feeling burned out.

7/26/09


	11. InnerInsanity,dogs,and Zetsuite's clash

I'm finally back! Sorry for the wait, but RL prevails over ff, sorry guys. School is starting soon, so you might have two weeks to wait instead of a few days. Just stay with me!

Midnight Phase: Thanks. I didn't know I could do creepy! Hopefully this chapter lives up to your standards. *cookie*

DarkTorrent: Probably. If I had to compare him, he'd probably closest to Pein (nagato), and weird mix of Itachi, Zetsu, and Deidara. I can't really explain w/o giving to much away. Have I seen you before? I think there was a DarkTorrent on NF. *cookie*

SaphireWhiteWolf:Thanks for the ice, it helped! Yeah, he is. I've got more angst/trauma for him in store this chapter. *cheesecake*

Rizember: Hey! That was my cookie! Grr. hehe sounds like you might be an Ed fan. I like shorties. Yep, it was all inspired from FMA *cookie.*

--- Chapter 11: Inner insanity, dogs, and Zetsu-ite's clash.

Black. Black..more black. Solid darkness was all that he could perceive around him..The blond found it oppressing, as if it was pressing down on him; surrounding him; trapping him.

With a sudden gasp of panic, he remembered to breath.

Slowly, he forgot what the sun looked like, the taste of fresh air. Soon, he began to think all of it was just a really good dream, and that he had really been in this abyss. This was reality, not that other happy, free world.

Even his name slipped away, fed into the madness.

Just when calm peace settled in as he remembered his place in this gentle restful world, it was ripped away harshly.

A..man was standing there, blending in with his surroundings completely; only his crimson eyes, which scared him terribly so, in some deep part of him, and the red clouds were visible.

Without warning, Blood murmured words he couldn't make sense of, and pointed, and he was thrust out from his world.

---

Naruto was gasping as he awoke on the forest floor.

_Stop..spinning_. His head was pounding, and everything wouldn't stop whirling. His heart pounded loudly, blocking out everything.

Out here..everything was too intense.

The harsh sound of his breathing made his ears ring, the touch of the dry grass, painful. The light hurt his eyes, and he shut them quickly. Despite that, he could still feel the light burning through.

In his nightmare, everything had been so numbing; a phrase he'd overheard once while spying in the air ducts, "sensory deprivation" seemed to apply. Chillingly, the blond realized how serious those words were and what they meant for the Kumo-nin. When he was seven, nothing but "big words" applied to that phrase.

Now..

Naruto shuddered at the implications.

Groaning..again, man, he did a lot of that lately, the blond opened his eyes, and pushed himself up.

And spat out the dirt.

Yeah, he face-planted after the creepy-ass nightmare.

And ate dirt.

"Yuck."

Less dizzy, but not in a good mood, he got up and stretched on shaky legs. Naruto cracked his neck, and flexed his arms, feeling his back groan in protest. "Whew." The blond shook out his arms.

Now what?

"What could you do? What should you do? What _would_ you do?"

Because he couldn't go without his weird-ass dog sighting of the day.

The blond barked, a harsh laugh escaping him. "You came back? After that?" Those sick images..forever ingrained in his mind.

Fuuten shrugged. "I told you dark evil shit was in that house."

The dog..actually had a point, but he was gonna ignore that because he already felt degraded and traumatized enough.

"Back to following me again?" The blond was still sitting down, not ready to get going yet. He still had so much to absorb, the genin had been going from rush to rush and shock to shock like a junkie. Time to sit back and contemplate. Naruto had no clue whether or not he wanted to lay down and chill, or pace back and forth. And unmentioned tension seemed to be following him, surrounding him like a cloak. A cloak on a hundred degree day. Stifling and unwanted.

The hyakyou-inu seemed unphased at his scorning sarcastic tone; it was cleary of the 'leave me the fuck alone you damn pest' variety. "I'm bored. You are nothing but a paradox."

He thought the dog was going to leave.

"But maybe that's just another term for hypocrite."

Naruto sprung up to lash out and _kill that fucking piece of trash_, but the dog just disappeared as always. "All these stupid riddles and cryptic words! _Are you just here to taunt me?!"_

Nothing but silence answered him.

The twelve year old gave a muted-roar that was like a sigh but angry. "Damn dog!" He collapsed in a fit of anger, shame, and frustration. "What the hell does he think he's talking about? Who does he think he's talking to?" Indignation turned his rage-shout into a squawk.

_"Are we going to return to Konoha? Back to those ingrates?"_ It added with a sneer, the unsaid 'weaklings' echoed in his head.

"Where else could we go?"

Naruto couldn't picture anywhere else, despite his recent reluctance to return. Konoha was where he lived, grew up. The place where he vandalized shops, various stores, and most famously the Hokage Monument. Climbing the cliffs was half the fun..then outrunning and outwitting those chuunin? It was awesome. The blond was an adrenaline junkie plain and simple.

_"Forgotten how they wished you were dead? How they belittled you?"_

He flinched. "But I told you already, I've got my team Sasuke, Sa-"

_"Your crush, who wants to crush _you_?"_

"No, no!" Naruto winced a bit, "Sakura-chan just is a bit fiery sometimes. She likes to be rough with me."

Even that sounded a bit stale and overused to him. Her punches were hard, and they hurt.

_"You are a doormat, Naruto."_

More denial roiled in him instantly at the accusation. Blustering was what he gave in response. "What? I'm a man! I've got a spine! I'm not a wuss."

_"Why let her beat you? She is weak."_

"But I like her." He protested weakly.

_"Does she like you?"_

".!."

_"She hits you, thinks your annoying."_

"I..I"

_"She will never deserve you."_

That was when he crumpled.

But he was the new not-Naruto, not the old weak original. So he cast those feelings of hurt aside as fast as he was able.

"We should still go. I have nowhere else."

And it gave no protest.

Naruto pushed himself up, and just began to run. He didn't really care when he returned, the only important thing was that he would be going back to the trees. No more of this constantly open land.

The blond's thoughts were allowed to roam freely, and he thought of many things. The way he was scared stiff when he was on Itachi's back, held on by the damn bracelet, having no choice but to cower when the dragon came. Laughing as he ate ramen. The night in the swamp when he could just relax, and be. Watching the pretty lights dance together.

His thoughts eventually went back to _her,_ and what he thought he'd seen in _her room._

_"Don't worry. Itachi is nowhere near."_

Naruto relaxed, automatically unwinding, fully putting his faith in the voice.

---

It must have been hours later, there wasn't much light to see by, but it wasn't night. No moon and stars. _Morning then._ His thoughts were hazy, but all that mattered was that he could keep going, keep running.

But the blond heard a rustling and that ruined his mantra.

Naruto skidded to a stop; completely halting.

Tall, hulking, intimidating. Brown fur, sharp claws, gleaming white teeth.

It was a bear, and it was on it's hind legs.

Challenge. He instinctively knew what it was. The animal let out a roar, and he found that very offending. It dare challenge him?

He was the best hunter.

He would _kill_, he would _win_, he would _dominate_.

Naruto lunged.

They were hungry.

---

Kyuubi gave the closest thing to a grin a demon could produce and leered down at the figure in front of it's blasted prison in amusement.

Naruto stared back with pained eyes. Cuts and minor flesh wounds covered him, a few still leaking blood. Others, older, had blood that had partially congealed oozing from them.

Eyes widened, and Naruto clutched his chest, near his heart, as a hole was torn through it, straight through by an invisible phantom. A fountain of blood gushed forth, and the blond staggered, growing pale.

A laugh of pure sadistic glee erupted from the demon.

---

Revulsion tore through him with ugly burning claws.

_How..how?!_

Monster.

He'd eaten human flesh.

"Dammit!" He cried, and punched a tree, hard.

Hard.

The blond slid down, hitting the ground, breaking.

No dog, offering a confusing or insulting comment.

No confident, snide little voice.

Uzumaki Naruto was alone.

He no longer knew how to cry. This passed lines that no one knew about, because no one had been pushed this far. Instead, he curled into a pathetic ball, and let dry sobs rack his body.

---

Deidara smiled. Cries from the torture chambers meant Sasori-danna or any of the others were happy, and by extension Leader-sama was happy. This meant fun missions, and the Akatsuki's version of fish camp, and soon.

---

Broken..broken. Broken Broken Broken.

How could Naruto return to Konoha like this?

For a moment, scared, he couldn't recall clear images of anyone. Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, even jii-chan. They were all fuzzy and insubstantial.

But not-Naruto didn't need them, he had The Voice, and Fuuten, the dog. The very insane dog.

His surroundings were impossible to make out, swirls of color, holding a disturbingly dream-like quality.

Floating? Was he floating, slowly spinning head over heels.

The blond was disoriented, scared, but right now he didn't care.

Because blood wasn't splattered on his face, his claws running across pathetic frail flesh, tearing through the predator that dare challenge like it wasn't their prey. Because his fangs, their sharp teeth weren't biting into flesh so smooth it was like what he was meant to do. Because he wasn't throwing back his head in a primal howl, satisfied, the craving, the urge had been placated for now. Because he wasn't swallowing and enjoying the way it slid down his throat.

Because that hadn't been a bear.

---

Words: _1,831_

^Not counting my notes.

Heh, this was just dragging! I mentioned it in a couple of pm's, today. But then I finally just got it. I had the main scenes down, just had trouble putting them together.

After this I'm putting a new story up (Switch), and I also have a one-shot out. I can't believe I didn't mention it last time (testament to how tired I was), but I'm having a review war w/ Endless Raindrops (her story is 22 chapters so far, 112 reviews) so every comment counts! Naruto must prevail over twilight! I have no problem w/ old readers going back and reviewing chapters they haven't yet. :) hehe. Or anonymous reviews. But please say "I liked this" or "that needs some work" and not just update. But if that's all you have to say, that's fine too!

8/7/09


	12. From Creepy to Truffles in Turmoil

Hey there! Yeah, it's been a while. Hm. Haven't heard from Saph lately, it seems she has disappeared...

A big shout out for Rizember! She looked over part of the chapter for me, and also named the dragon. Go read her stuff!!

**XxVioletAshesxX**: haven't decided who he's gonna kill yet, and exactly how the ending is gonna go down. Probably no pairings either. Well..maybe.

**MidnightPhase**: I try my best! I tried not to "change my style", so hopefully you like it!

**7thDwarf**: lol. I keep getting comments like these. Who says it's just Kyuubi's fault. Kukuku..Thanks! XD

**SaphireWhiteWolf** and **Gone and forgoten**: Yum!! Thanks. Also to Saph: where the hell are you?? where have you gone? T.T

**Obito-san14** and** XXcreepy-girl360XX**: thanks, I'm glad you like the updates. Cool screen name, btw (me likes obito!!XD) Okay. Please read Switch then?? *puppy dog eyes*

**Houkakyou:** seriously?! You think it's epic?? Woot! (thanks for checking out switch, btw)

---Chapter 12: From Creepy to Truffles in Turmoil

There. Almost there!! She wiggled her eel-like body with joy. She pumped her wings twice, gliding through the air; flicking her tail, letting loose a roar!

Kailan was here!

---

He crouched, on all fours, eying his opponent warily. Who was it to challenge him? Perhaps the beast was more powerful than it appeared? The fact that it had the nerve and daring to fight him made him nervous. He felt his claws dig into the earth, and answered the bear's roar with a feral snarl. He bared his teeth; a primal urge rose within him.

Hunger. That was what he felt.

Bear meat..maybe it would taste good? He hadn't planned on catching game this size, but it would do. All that mattered was that meat would soon be filling his belly.

The bear roared back, and fell back onto all fours, charging.

He returned the challenge, barrelling forward on all fours. The bear swiped at him, attempting to lop his head off, or claw at him until he was incapicated. He threw his body to the left, the paw missing his neck by a hair's breath. Before the bear had a chance to spin around, he pounced, landing on it's back. His opponent had no chance now! Giddyness filled him. His fangs sunk into the bears flesh, at the base of the neck. It flailed, attempting to throw him off. Blood matted it's fur. Growling, he sunk his claws into the beast's shoulders, latching on tightly. The bear stood upright, in a futile attempt to get him off.

Naruto "ran" his claws and teeth stayed where they were, but that left his legs hanging. So he moved his legs and feet in a motion not unlike walking up trees, but instead he was "running" up the animals back. His sharp nails gouged it's back, blood pouring from the wounds. He clawed at it with avengence, ripping open the back one "step" at a time. Within moments, half of it's skin was painfully scraped off, exposing the muscle beneath, some of which was ripped out.

He jerked his head, tearing out a hunk of furry flesh, and ripped his claws out, pushing off it's bloody back like a spring board with his feet.

Savagely, he threw back his head, letting loose a howl!

Victory!

Victory!!

He let the whole forest hear his cries of triumph.

Naruto jerked up, eyes snapping open, panting heavily. _I..I killed him. And ate him._ His features were a blur in his mind. A man, hard face, strong jaw, crooked nose. Older..older than him. But not old-old. Kakashi-old. Or Iruka-old. A..bad feeling welled up in him, like he was gonna throw up, but worse.

_"Weak-Naruto is dead! Or do you want to act like the original?"_

"Voice?!" His own er, voice, was hollow.

_"It is I. Didn't you swear no one would hurt you? No one would make you feel weak, feel fear again?"_

His eyes were wild. "I..I ..yes!"

_"Then cast aside such useless things."_

"That it? Do you not want to wander back to your disgrace?"

His eyes latched onto the dog. "What do you know? Huh, huh?! I don't need you! I've got Voice. Voice care for Naruto, and Naruto is good for Voice. Or else bad things happen!!" He shouted. As he did so, the blond threw his arms into the air, emphasizing his point.

The dog watched him rant calmly.

"You just hit the bottom of the canyon. Hard, with a big splat. Ain't no more fun anymore kid," Naruto could've sworn there was a hint of sadness in Fuuten's voice and eyes. "See ya."

One last final time he dispersed, grains of sand in the wind.

The breeze swirled around him, and Naruto swore he heard something whisper "Good bye."

---

"Itachi, how soon?"

He glanced at the red head. "Three days."

"Good, un! Leader-sama is restless!"

---

Trudge.

What a funny word. A cross between truffle and fudge.

Well, maybe that wasn't exactly the real meaning of the word.

But hey, screw it!

Naruto was not happy at all. As he trudged towards Konoha, all he could feel was turmoil.

Uh, turtle and foil?

Nah, the scribe writing this down got nothing.

The blond could barely feel the sun's rays on him. All that he focused on was Konoha, and getting there soon. This determination and blank-thought state kept his mind from wandering to other things. Like, what would he tell them? "Oh, sorry, I just went a little crazy and ATE A MAN!" Was there even a home left for him to go back to?

The Voice's words layed heavily on him "She hates you!"

Sure, he had more than Sakura-chan. There was Sasuke-teme..the ramen stand owners..um, Iruka. Kakashi? But the voice all had doubts about them, and the voice was all he had left.

_"One day, they will fear us."_

Truffles or no truffles.

---

He gasped. The gates! He..he..was here! At last, he'd returned! Naruto could see them through the trees from his vantage point on the ground. Just a couple hundred meters away..!~

_"It will burn!"_

The blond flinched at the suddeness.

"But, I thought..if we're going to live here?"

_"They must pay for there crimes! None are innocent."_

Naruto tilted his head. "None are innocent?" For some reason, he could never say no to the Voice.

_"Yes,"_ it crooned. _"We will bring balance, justice. All that have wronged us will learn to fear us."_

A twisted grin grace his face. "And grovel at our feet?" Something dark wormed into his heart.

It was like a drug; he craved approval from _it; _the voice. Despite all his encounters, it felt as if he hadn't had contact with any form of humanity in a long time.

_"I promise."_

_---_

"How do I know if they still want me anymore? What will they think about us?"

_"Henge."_ It ordered.

Naruto did so, shakily. Why did he feel so frail, weak even? "Henge!" He whispered, urging his chakra to wrap around his form, like blanket. It coated his skin, hair, eyes.

Now Uzumaki Naruto was no more.

Kashiya was in his place; 5'2", 123 lbs. He was gangly, and awkward, looking to be 13 or 14. Kashiya's grey eye's shined, and his brown hair fell flat, shorter than Naruto's hair, and less wild. Kashiya was an amnesiac, with only the clothes on his back and a few personal belongings. All that were left of his memories was his first name, and the knowledge that he was the survivor of some horrible attack. An invisible person sometimes helped him; he thought it was a ghost, or some type of spirit that was watching over him.

_Mother, father, is it one of you that watches over me?_

Excitement filled him as he looked up from his feet, seeing the large gate. He'd retained his ability to read, all that was really gone was his personal experiences; all that made him.

Kashiya lacked an identity.

The perfect sponge to absorb anything and everything.

_"Go in."_ For a moment, the disembodied voice spooked him. But then Kashiya remembered that this was the voice of the spirit that was watching over him.

He nodded. "Hai, spirit-san."

Obediently, he went up to the gates.

Two men appeared before him. _The gate guards._ Vaguely a memory stirred as he saw the vests they wore. _Chuunin? _The pair seemed to be good friends.

One had dark brown hair, and it was long in the front, covering one of his eyes; the other had blackish colored hair and a bandage across his nose.

"What is your business here?" The brown haired one said.

"I need a place to live," a slightly hanted look entered his grey eyes. "My village is no more."

The one with the bandage looked at him pityingly. "I see, we'll take you to the Hokage." He turned around, his partner as well, presumably to lead him into the village. "Oh, and my name's Kotetsu." The chuunin said, looking back over his shoulder.

Kashiya nodded, following them, watching in a bit of awe as the large gates opened. "Kashiya."

The last unnamed chuunin smiled. "And I'm Izumo, nice to meet you."

"I'm sure you'll like it in the village." Kotetsu continued.

"Who is in charge?"

"Lady Tsunade is now, she was Sarutobi-sama's student, along with Master Jiraiya, who brought her back."

"The legendary healer?" He asked, a bit in awe.

"Yeah, that's her." Izumo chuckled. "She can't keep up with the heaps of paperwork at all though."

_'Ask about Uzumaki Naruto.'_

_'?'_ The name stirred something within him. Subtly he nodded, unconsciously responding. "How is Uzumaki Naruto?"

The two/duo seemed startled. "Why do you ask?" Kotetsu said warily.

"I don't remember much of my past, but that name shines like a beacon to me." He lied smoothly. In reality, he had no idea why this was so important to the spirit.

"Ah," Izumo gave a sympathetic look, "He's currently in the hospital. Naruto just got back from a mission with Jiraiya-sama. "

"He helped bring Tsunade-hime back himself," Kotetsu chipped in, "Or at least, those are the rumors."

"I see," he murmured. For some reason, that didn't sit right with him.

"Here we are." Izumo anounced proudly. "This is the Hokage Tower where Tsunade-sama resides and takes care of village affairs."

It was impressive tooking, and stood like a pillar, high in the sky, sticking out compared to the low-roofed houses surrounding it. Red and white (like many other things in the village) seemed to be the main color scheme. The pair of chuunin nodded at the guards, as if to say "he's with us" and let him pass through the wooden door without incident.

"Lady Tsunade, we have someone to see you. A passing visitor who may become a permanent citizen." Kotetsu said, voice carrying over to the next room. He assumed that was where this "Princess Tsunade" was.

"Come in then."

Kahiya blushed. She was beautiful all right, and seemed to exude a powerful prescence. _Her chakra is intimidating._

"Tsunade-sama," he said respectfully, clasping his hands together and bowing.

"So, who are you then?"

"Kahiya, Hokage-sama," It wouldn't do any good to get on the bad side of powerful people. Especially powerful people put in charge of villages. Villages that raised shinobi.

And shinobi weren't always the most stable of people.

"Where are you from?"

"I.." he faltered. _'A small farming village'_ "..my village was small, and I remember planting crops."

"You remember?" She questioned.

"Lady Tsunade, young Kashiya here is suffering from partial amnesia."

"I see." She said, accepting Izumo's explanation. "Is there anything else you remember?" She added, her elbows were on her desk, hands together, in a business-like tone.

He hesitated. "No mam."

She contemplated the situation for a few minutes. Kashiya wondered if had been wise not to mention the voice. Invisible spirits that followed you and gave advice weren't strange, were they? And neither was listening to them..in most people's books at least. At least, that was what Kashiya believed.

"Very well then. I will be assigning a genin team to show you the sights and sounds of the village. They should be able to escort you withou trouble." Her tone implied she wanted no crazy antics.

Kashiya nodded acceptingly. The next words would strike a chord with him, despited the fact that he had never met these people, and couldn't even remember if he had.

"Call for Team 7."

---

Words: 2,174

Meh. I just really wanted to get something up!!! This is probably gonnna be the last summer update for this story. I should have just enough time to add another chapter to Switch before school. Then everything is gonna get hectic. If it's a bit confusing, it's meant to be. I meant to "finish" this arc and the two big reveals be next chapter. Guess that will be in chapter 14 then..

Please let me know what you thought! Was it okay, were my previous chapters better? What's the deal with Kashiya, the dragon, etc. I love hearing y'alls responses, and occasionally reviewers either get sneak previews, or get to help beta a chapter. Not just saying that either.

Wow. 460 was pretty cool, but what was with the two week wait?! Grr. Looks like a battle-royal next chapter. Hm. What is Tobi gonna tell Naruto Kashi and Yamato??

8/21/09


	13. Delirious Truths

Many thanks to SaphireWhiteWolf! She beta'ed the first half of this for me.

Chapter 13: Delirious Truths.

Bam. Sledgehammer to the head. Whatever you want to call it, it was a staggering blow, as if someone had physically hit him. Kashiya stumbled, and then righted himself, rubbing the back of his head. _Ouch._ Had that been the spirit? Was it angry? The initial stabbing sensation had subsided to a normal headache, pricking and annoying, but not debilitating.

"Are you okay, Kashiya-san?"

He turned back to the Hokage at the sound of her voice. "Heh. Yes mam. I'm fine, Lady-Tsunade."

A whirl of emotions seemed to whirl inside him, just below the surface. Like turbulent waters, not quite waves suppressed, unable to crash against the shore. Instead they were encased inside, ready to jump out when they had the chance. The sudden negativity and intensity of the sensations caught him off guard, and sent his mood simmered, unconscious of his own desires and confused feelings.

Like an independent entity.

Had the spirit possessed him? If so, why was it so angry? That one word "angry" didn't even begin to cover the strength and depth of the emotions existing, hiding in him.

Resentment. Fear. Even..a hint of confusion? The last sensation was one he shared with the invisible self.

He couldn't even begin to understand why. It was incomprehensible to him.

"See ya later kid!" Izumo called, waving from the door. Kotetsu chuckled, and ruffled his hair. "Good luck!"

The two exited from the door, leaving him alone.

"I need you to fill out a few forms while you wait for Team 7." Again, the feeling a drowning in sorrow and hate overwhelmed him, and his headache spiked.

"H..Hai." He took the papers and pen with a shaky hand. Kashiya hoped she didn't notice, or just wrote it off as being nervous in her presence.

Name: _Well, that's easy enough._ He wrote down the characters quickly, _Kashiya._ Age: _Gah..I can't even remember my own age?!..Well, not exactly, It's just my birthday I dont' remember._Kashiya filled in the blank with a thirteen. 'Previous Affiliations (if any):. _Ano..gaps in my memory..are very inconvenient._ N/A was what he scribbled in.

Most questions he left blank. It's not like he could put: Sorry, I wish I could tell you, but I really just don't know. It's the craziest thing!

"Here you go, ma'am."

"Thank-you." She said shortly, but not in an unfriendly tone. The woman took the papers from them, and straightened them. Pap. Pep .Pep.

His eyes wandered the room. Dark wood panels covered the floor, and the desk was the most prominent feature, also made of wood. It was a beautiful mahogany. The shelves behind her desk (what he dubbed "her domain") were lined with scrolls, and more than likely some important documents were hidden there in the mess. But her desk was meticulously neat. It produced an odd sense of deja vu.

He gripped his hair, tensing. _I've been having these headaches latley-better to keep it secret, no use bothering them about it._ It was accompanied by the weirdest feeling-like someone was watching the world through him.

A woman appeared at the door. She was rather average-looking; nothing was there that would make her stick in his mind. He assumed she was Tsunade's assistant, or at least secretary. "Team 7 are here, Tsunade-sama."

"Let them in."

First through the door was a girl. He felt a blush rise to his face, from his neck, creeping to his cheeks. Even his ears were red. Probably. Her skin was fair, and had no blemishes. Her eyes were jade, and most exotic of all was her pink hair. Like cherry blossoms. His first reaction was that she made him heat up, literally. His face felt hot and unconsciously he found himself straightening his clothes, and wiping nonexistent food off his face.

She glanced at him and sent a polite nod his way, and was that a hint of a grin?

Then there was a man. Much taller than everyone else in the room, and donning a jounin vest, the man must have been the team's sensei. He noted his odd shade of hair and mix of silver and grey, almost white. He couldn't make out his features as most of his face was covered by a mask.

Last a boy came through the door. A wave of annoyance washed over him, and even longing. Longing wasn't quite it, but jealousy didn't right either. He had to admit he was good looking, with black messy hair and dark eyes that popped against pale skin. Kashiya scowled. This guy probably had girls flocking him left and right.

_He's just that kind of popular._

Kashiya ignored the irrational wave of envy at the realization. He wasn't even sure it was coming from him. It was, but is wasn't .Two contradicting feelings at the same time. Like someone was overshadowing him. The only thing he could think of was the spirit, because he hadn't even met these people before, never less talked to them ever in his short life.

_What was that?_

He could've sworn..

_No it was nothing. I'm just tired._And indeed, he could practically feel his eyes drooping..it felt as if he hadn't gotten a bit of shut eye in years. Kashiya put..well, whatever it had been from his mind. Far away.

Kashiya was brought back to the real world by a cough. Remembering just in time not to look stupid, he shut his mouth cutting off the inevitable 'wha? huh, what's going on?' expression, Kashiya blinked, and focused his attention back on the room. "I've just been explaining the mission to Team 7, Kashiya."

Wondering what he was supposed to say, he just nodded dumby. Effectively ruining the plan not to look stupid.

"Ah, yes." was the bit he added after that.

"So this is the idiot we're escorting?" The broody girl snatcher drawled.

Kashiya growled and resisted the unbelievable urge to pummel him or shout at the comment. This was a trained fighter, something he was not.

"Don't be so mean, Sasuke-kun," the girl chided. "He's new. And has amnesia to boot!"

Sasuke. _So that guy's name is Sasuke._ He filed the information away, though it tickled..as if he'd heard it before. _Why..? this makes no sense._ Like many times today, he felt like grasping his head, and maybe dramatically crumpling to the floor while he was at it.

Yep. No more chocolate. Or late night dancing. Or..maybe it was just the spirit messing with him?

Nah. No way. It had nothing to do with the voice inhabiting his head.

Reigning in the irritation tickling him (wow that sounded weird), he forced a polite facade on, turning his lips up. Or tried to. The corners barely twitched. "I'm Kashiya." He started to lift his hand up, but then stopped, letting it awkwardly hang by his side. The amnesiac wasn't exactly sure if he was supposed to offer up a hand.

And he wasn't entirely sure if he even wanted to.

"Nice to meet you." the jounin replied in turn, before a silence could make it's way into the conversation. His tone was friendly enough. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. Their sensei." He added, a bit needlessly. The masked man gestured at the two younger genin.

A frown was still set on the guy's, _Sasuke's _face. And Kashiya had a feeling if he could, the brooder would have his arms cross. Instead he settled with the less rude alternative: stuffing them in his pockets. "Uchiha Sasuke." Brief. But he had gotten his point across.

Kashiya's eyes flickered to his face as the boy had given his introduction, roaming over the Uchiha, taking in his features. White shorts, a black shirt with a funky collar. And his hair was a bit longer than it seemed it should be. _But how should I know? _What a strange case of deja vu. One that shouldn't exist.

_How can you remember things about people you've never met before?_

The girl that had snatched his attention when he first laid eyes on her stepped forward. Unlike the others, she had a smile on her face (well, that Kakashi might have..but with the mask it was impossible time) and held out her hand. "Hi. I'm Haruno Sakura." She even tilted her head cutely, in the manner of a puppy. A goofy smile emerged on his face when he felt her soft smooth hand in his.

But alas, after five glorious seconds, her hand slipped from his.

"nehehehe."

Kashiya stiffened, and stifled a shriek.

Monster!

A horrible gory form.

So disturbing..yet eerily familiar.

There! In the corner.

Now it was gone..

Kashiya bit his lip, until his teeth broke the skin. He swallowed, feeling the blood run down his throat. Slowly he made himself breathe in and out deeply, unclenching his fists.

_Didn't they see it too?_

The urge to scream was still there, but it had lessened without the presence of the nightmarish..thing. It made his skin crawl.

His reaction must have been well veiled however, for it seemed none of the other's in the room noticed anything was amiss.

It was like time had frozen again.

Kashiya turned around, facing them again (somewhere in between freaking out and calming down, he had turned away from them) as ready to go as..

As a man about to jump into the deepest pit of hell.

Cause that was how he rolled.

Something about going through the town truly terrified him. He couldn't pin point the source or origin of the fear. Perhaps it was just the thought of seeing that dreaded..thing, again.

"Well, your job is to show me the town, isn't it?" Kashiya said with false cheer.

---

"And this is the Yamanaka Flower Shop," Sakura said knowledgeably. Kashiya took in the building she pointed out and nodded faintly: it was of modest size, and a wooden sign hanging just above the shop door let anyone know what it was. The girl was obviously very familiar with this place. The brunet wondered why she came by the place so much and firmly rooted in his mind: beige walls, and a flat roof, two stories in all.

Anything that could get the flower in his favor would be in his interest after all.

The group was walking down a dirt road, like the many others that ran through the village. He was already beginning to get a feel for the place; the roofs were more than often tiled, and red or brown in color. The few that weren't were flat. Dirt paths ran through Konoha everywhere, not a cobbled road in site. It was a very pleasant atmosphere all around he supposed.

But underneath that..another layer seemed to lurk. Something, that he couldn't identify made him feel unease at the situation all around.

Kakashi stayed back as they walked, content to let his two genin lead the way.

The air was dead. Not a breeze of relief to be found. It was stale, and strangely far from fresh, despite being outdoors. _Must be the crowdedness of the buildings, and all these people, so close together. _Kashiya was most definitely not comfortable around crowds, that was for sure. But despite that, an inexplicable pang of loneliness ate at him, festering.

He thirsted for contact.

_"People are vermin"_

Kashiya froze, the comment he had for Sakura stuck in his throat.

Something flashed, to fast to be seen, out of the corner of his vision.

_Why am I the only one seeing this?!!_

"Trip over a rock, loser?"

Sasuke's sarcastic barb snapped him out of his spit second panic, worming in past the fear. "You should take better care of your roads!" He shot back, letting his temper get the better of him.

"Hn." The boy sneered, not even deigning him with a real reply.

Why he!! That jerk. Kashiya was so tempted to _rip _the smirk off his face. "Calm calm, must stay calm. The spirit is watching somewhere I'm sure.' He realized, and chided himself for being so easily distracted. Girls with pink hair were rather exotic and rare after all.. He allowed a blush to grace his cheeks (he really couldn't control such minor things like that anyway) and the random burst of giddiness that accompanied the thought.

He was on a mission, after all. Recon. Yeah. He was a smooth spy, infiltrating the mighty Leaf Village!~..

In fact, he could've sworn he heard some spy music.. doo doo doo. dooo do. *

Monster!

He paled. It stood, if that was the right word, in a corner, with glowing white eyes. It seemed to glow red, but maybe that was just all of the blood on it. The thing flickered, as if it wasn't really there, but yet it was the most real thing here. Solid. Freaky. The only truth in the world.

And then he knew, upon seeing it, what he had to ask.

Turning his back on it, thought it felt so wrong..a wail, screeching and long in his head rose up. Kashiya knew it was emanating from that..thing. He faced the people that were supposed to be his escort, in this village of fakes.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto."

The wailing grew louder, stronger.

Sakura tilted her head again, in that endearing manner. But now..it was just disturbing. "Who is Uzumaki Naruto?"

His heart plummeted.

"There isn't anyone named Uzumaki Naruto in this village." Sasuke said calmly.

"He doesn't exist."

Kakashi's words sent him spiralling out of control. All the while it was getting louder and louder. The crying!! It wouldn't stop. His world, it was slipping beneath his feet and growing black.

The lies around him were crumbling, the truth whirling around incomprehensibly.

He fainted, and was scared.

Because that monster in the corner; human, fox, ugly, unwanted..

...was Uzumaki Naruto.

---

_Words: 2,540_

I'm sorry guys, I meant to give you a big, giant epic chapter, but this was it. I couldn't do anymore, and didn't want to keep y'all waiting. I already have the next one planned out though, so don't worry, it shouldn't be nearly as long! Hopefully..:) Oh, and our band is going to area this weekend!! For marching. Hopefully we move on to state!!!

Anyone else going to Renfest?

10/20/09


	14. All Kinds of Bad

Hehe, I was actually kind of fast this time.. Many of the new reviews (from new people) say it's creepy..but cool. So that's kind of cool, right? I try to be original.

Beta: SaphireWhiteWolf-thanks!! ^^ I decided to post before you read to the last part as a sort of surprise. It's funner if you don't know everything, right?

---Chapter 14 All Kinds of Bad

Bad. Unpleasant, miserable and unkind.

There were many definitions of bad, and many kinds to be felt.

Feeling ill was one; no one in a healthy state of mind would enjoy being sick. They may enjoy reaping the benefits, skipping school, and being able to stay home and rest instead of work, but experiencing the actual ailing was something no one wanted.

The heart wrenching feeling of bitter failure after coming so close to victory. To have it snatched away after hours and hours of work..months of time that went to waste...It was a hollow, but also very deep feeling. Sadness and anger, mixed with frustration in an endless pit.

Depression intermingled with the feeling of loss, but also had a category of its own. Dark, unhappy and ultimately indescribable unless experienced.

And then there was just bad: miserable, and in so many ways, not enjoyable. The opposite of joy, happiness and other light things. It mainly constituted of anger. Rage fed it, and it grew under bitterness.

But what the blond was feeling was none of the above, and more over the most intense thing that had ever hit him: pain, confusion, and betrayal all wrapped into one deadly recipe.

From an outsider's point of view, of someone who just happened to wander into the cell, he was rather pathetic.

His back was against the wall, and he was curled into a ball, arms around his knees. He didn't seem to notice the rough rock, and had his blue eyes were locked onto something far away, something visible only to him. Dark shadows under his eyes made them seem bigger, and the purplish tinge made his face appear paler. The boy was gaunt and miserable looking.

Empty and bloodshot, his eyes flickered nervously, hopelessly.

What might have been tough, durable clothes, were now tattered rags, and had no identifiable color. His jacket was gone, only his pants were left. A bystander could count a few ribs, and it appeared as if he hadn't moved from that spot in a long time.

Light! He jerked, painfully jarring his funny bone. Ignoring it, the sensation subsided to an odd tingle. Naruto shut his eyes, and turned away. It was painfully bright after so long in the dark.

Footsteps. Not heavy at all, but loud in the absence of sound.

Squinting, he made out a figure, not terribly tall but towering over him none the less. The outline was disturbingly familiar..

What sealed it was the glowing eyes.

But despite the horror, a sick joy rose up in him. A person!! Human contact which he thirsted for with a twisted desperation.

"It wasn't real, Naruto-kun," the voice was strangely kind in his ears. "You never left."

And then Naruto woke up, but it wasn't him. The new not-Naruto was here, and ready to see the world.

---

Inside his mind, he was screaming. Screaming, screaming and screaming for all it was worth.

Kyuubi's eyes looked down at the tattered body in disdain. It was like a ragdoll, painted in red. Skin and bones, messily spilling everywhere. "So it seems your spirit is dead." The demon observed, not particularly moved, but sorry that his jailer was gone so soon. "Such a waste." It said with distaste.

"I..agh." Naruto croaked. He gurgled as blood gushed out of his mouth.

It splattered to the ground, mixing with the water, but mostly staining the inside of the prison.

The kitsune glanced down, and then placed his paw in the small puddle, wiping onto his claws. The gesture was oddly like when Naruto had made his vow to defeat the pesky white-eyed human. Staring for a moment, the demon observed silently and licked his claws in a bored manner.

Splat! Naruto's body fell forward into the water, face first.

Out of the shadows, another Naruto appeared behind him. His eyes held shadows not present in the original's, and the clone had a mad air about him. A kunai rested in his hand.

And he was smiling.

--

He would do anything for him. Anything. _Just talk to me!_ The blond thought madly, staring hungrily at the man, who stood beckoningly at the entrance. His eyes roved over the form, eagerly, drinking in the site of another sentient being he could talk to.

Just barely a man, perhaps seventeen. Short and lithe, he would never be bulky, or overly muscular. But he was intimidating none-the-less; pitch black eyes bore into him, like a ghoul wishing to suck out his soul. His hair was just a shade lighter, and pulled back in a short low ponytail, keeping most of it from his face. Despite this, a few shorter strands fell loose, to the side of his face, nearly framing it.

"Itachi," he rasped in a low whisper. Naruto's eyes and mind absorbed the image, hardly believing the reality around him was "real" and not fake.

A quick quirk of the lips, so fast that if one blinked, they would miss it, and the older man smirked in response. Perhaps his lips had twitched in errant amusement. "Hello, Naruto-kun."

For so long Naruto had lived in a world of delusions. All his adventures: Nina, the damn dog, even his brief act of cannibalism..were all illusions. Created by his mind, unable to cope with how things were.

Ironically the first moments back into everyone's "real world" were spent with Itachi, a master of genjutsu, who created his _own_ truths.

The world wasn't perfect. And the Uchiha couldn't live with that-so he _made_ it perfect.

The flaws of humanity were _so_ annoying.

Uchiha Itachi would guide this lost soul, even if he had to use lies to reveal the truth.

The boy watched him, with desperate eyes, locked onto his form. Frozen, unmoving. Waiting with bated breath. Naruto was trembling, nervous energy rolling off him in waves.

"Follow me," He ordered quietly.

A furious relief swept through the jinchuuriki, as he stood shakily on weak legs. Although at first it was slow in coming; it took him a few moments to process what was happening to him. Once it "clicked" though, it came flooding in, breaking the dam.

Not waiting to see if he would follow, Itachi spun on his foot, and began to walk down the corridors at a swift pace. He strode with purpose.

Naruto nearly tripped over his own feet, eagerly following. Though he stumbled at times, he was never left behind. He feared being lost in this labyrinth, and loathed the idea of being alone again.

It never crossed his mind that he was following a murderer, nor the fact that this constituted as an act as betrayal.

---

Anger..such anger..he hadn't felt in such a long time, centuries..

It bubbled and simmered, like a pot of water about to boil, but struggling to take the final leap from rippling and frothy water, to wild and popping liquid, hot and energetic.

Emotion given phsicsal form was such a dangeroud thing. Especially in a normally incoporal being. Spirit not flesh. His very essence roiled with the srong sensation.

Liquid metal, rushing like a crazed river. It heated normally cold veins. Such a rush of energy! It made him want to move. He was twitchy. His whole scaled form was screaming for movement..

His limbs quivered, all of his muscles agitated. On fire! Someone had lit him aflame, for he was strangely hot. It must be flames that licked him on the inside, scorching his heart.

Must be still..not destroy. So, bound by this, he found release in the only way possible.

He roared, like sense had fled his mind. A terrible loud screech. Deep and throaty, like rumbling thunder.

The tension that had flooded him, soaked into his flesh, fled suddenly, flowing out.

Calm. Sedate.

Angry!

But it was a cold, calculating anger now.

And infinitely more dangerous for it.

---

Here! She could feel his presence, that she'd yearned for, searched for this long. Her soul tugged impatiently to be united with him once more. The dragon wasn't a fully corporal creature, as her spirit nature proved true.

By and large, in many ways, instinct ruled her, shadowing every decision. Despite her high intelligence, some things caused automatic reactions.

She gave away her solid body, crashing through the stone, heading straight for him. Keilan was going the direct route, to the thing that had fascinated her for so long. Disconnected, no one could see her, but she was free to move through things that stopped the measly, limited humans.

She came to a resounding halt, and screeching back into her body in her haste. If she took a bit more time, she would have reformed her body with a low pop, or even silence to human ears. This was a painful sharp hissing screech. A terrible, bloodcurdling sound.

He gave her a look of shock; she knew not nearly as much about human facial expressions as her brothers and father, but his jaw had dropped, showing sharp serrated teeth much like her own, and his eyes seemed to shrink on themselves.

Finally getting over it he pointed to her, working his mouth. "You..you.."

She got comfortable, curling around him, and stared at her blue human fondly.

---

_Words:1,700_

Hopefully that cleared up a few issues. :) Listening to Rise Against btw. (Prayer of a Refuge, Ready to Fall, Good Left Undone, Hero of War) Pumped me up as I was editing stuff. I intended to get to at least 2,000 words, but I figure this is close enough, and it'll be 2000 with notes. Not to mention the Halloween magic! If anyone is still confused: you know how Naruto "left" and had all his "adventures" on his way home? None of it was real. It originally was intended to have him really leave, but after talking to Saph, I decided to blend her original idea with mine.

10/31/09


	15. Lies and Vices

Hey! It's been a while. Did cpr on a dummy in health today.. Currently plotting a crossover! It's a hp and naruto, but takes a original twist. I'll release more details later.

Beta'ed by: SaphireWhiteWolf. Well, she got most of it anyway. ;)

Chapter 15: Lies and Vices

Jiraiya came back into the hotel room reeling. He reeked of alcohol, and was clearly intoxicated; even the dullest of civilians would be able to tell that much. Thus his senses were muddled, and left him vulnerable to attack, though when one was a Sannin, they didn't give much thought to those things. Even his name inspired fear in newly appointed jounin; his prowess in battle was legendary. Jiraiya let his reputation keep him safe and did not fear attack in hampered state.

The Konoha ninja nearly tripped and caught himself on the door frame. Frowning, annoyance written all over his face, he slip the door open and kicked off the troublesome geta. The landed on the wood with a clack and slid a bit, before toppling over near his futon.

He didn't see the brat, which he supposed was odd, but didn't set off any alarm bells. At times the kid would leave before he returned, and the room would be empty. Uncommon, but no out of character.

Feeling a headache coming on, he settled into the soft white material. Jiraiya's plans did not include being awake when the sun was shining and the birds were chirping, especially with the prospect of the inevitable hangover looming over him.

---

Sometime later, he become more aware of the outside world once more. Groaning, Jiraiya tried to ignore the pounding in his head. Though his tolerance was high, he had spent a lot of time at a multitude of bars last night searching for Tsunade and had consumed a great amount of sake along the way. By now the sun was out, and the light that escaped from the curtains was like a lance in his skull.

Grumbling, he half-expected his newest apprentice to come bursting in, shouting or carrying on in a loud-manner-that-was-bad-for-migraines way of his. When it didn't happen Jiyaiya secret counted his blessings and decided to get some water. His throat was painfully dry, and some liquid would clear his mind. Food would be welcome as well.

Plan now established, Jiraiya headed out to serve his needs. He would keep a lookout for the blond along the way.

---

By now, the sun was down and the Toad Sage's body had processed a majority of the alcohol that had been circulating his system. Because of that he was able to notice details, small things, that he hadn't noticed or deemed important at the moment of observation. His apprentice, fool-hardy as he was, hadn't returned. Jiraiya had noticed that the kid was energetic, but as far as he knew, wasn't inclined just to run off. Running away wasn't a part of the kid's M.O.

Neither was subtlety.

Jiraiya's first stop was the hotel room. He was now on an investigation; he was probably being paranoid, but this was Minato's kid, and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi! Caution never hurt in delicate situations. He stood at the threshold of the room, just outside the doorway and his eyes roved around the room. He cursed how he had bumbled into the room last night in his drunken state. How many clues and possible leads had he inadvertently destroyed?

It was pure folly on his part.

To the naked eye, there were no obvious signs of a struggle. However, to the trained observer, a more critical eye could notice several key facts.

Naruto's jumpsuit, the bright glaring orange it was, lay in the corner. It looked oddly lonely and deflated without it's owner. So the kid hadn't been planning the impromptu trip. This made the Sannin nervous; few things could excuse leaving one's daily clothes behind. Either the kid had stormed out irrationally, or the more grim and likely answer: Naruto had been kidnapped.

Grimacing at the implications, he continued to scan the room, hoping to find evidence that would contradict his current findings, for the result of a jinchuuriki being kidnapped was never good.

His heart sunk; that silly goofy cap was here. The inane night cap with teeth and eyes attached to it that Naruto never left. It was one of his dearest possessions for reasons Jiraiya couldn't fathom.

And consequently, something the blond would never willingly leave.

"Dammit." he cursed, at his incompetence, and Orochimaru for forcing them into this position.

Now it wasn't a matter of confirming what had happened, but rather who had been behind it, and why.

Akatsuki came to the forefront of his mind. Through his own spying and connections he had ascertained a few key pieces of information. To the general public, the name would mean little, although rumors of a shady organization had spread to minor villages. Akatsuki members were said to be marked by black coats covered in red clouds, and were all S-class criminals. Orochimaru was at one point and time affiliated with them. Their goal wasn't known, but the abduction and disappearance of jinchuuriki and influential people had been connected to them.

As Naruto housed the spirit and chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, they would certainly have the motive to do it.

Jiraiya knew he also needed to rule out any other suspects, and hopefully that could be done quickly. As much as he wished he could, the Sannin couldn't rush out and hope to take on the enemy and then get away with the boy in tow. Time was of the essence; wait to long and the trail would go cold. Knowledge was key right now. His lack of it put him at a distinct disadvantage.

Overall, it was a poor situation.

---

It wasn't Kiri, couldn't be Suna, and Kumo just didn't care. Konoha though filled with loathing would not sign it's own death warrant.

That left only Iwa, who if given the right knowledge, would have the perfect motive.

The problem was, they didn't.

The jounin of Iwa, who had once been children and seen their parents cut down, screamed as blood flooded their vision, didn't know the Minato Namikaze had had a son, and that his name was Naruto Uzumaki. Sarutobi's protection had worked too well. In a way, if it had been Iwa, it would have been better. Jiraiya could deal with the bitter Doton users that dwelt there. Stormed the village, or snuck in using shinobi stealth.

Walking in blindly was all that he was doing here. A trap filled with a dangerous unstable genius, who's Sharingan bred madness originated in Konoha.

Jiraiya scowled and bit his thumb, causing blood to ooze out. His hands blurred through the seals, and the slammed them palm-down onto the wooden flur. There was a small pop as space distorted, and the poof of smoke dissipitated, reveal a puppy-sized toad. "Gamahasu." He said, addressing the female toad. "I need you to send a message to the elders."

She was going to make a flippant remark, but refrained from comment. The seriousness on his face told her enough. "What would you like me to relay?"

"The master has lost sight of the tadpole. The grey dog should know which storm the tadpole has been lost in." He paused, and pulled out a thin scroll. "And here, give them this."

"Of course."

Another pop and she was gone.

---

"That's kind of cruel if you think about it." Deidara said, watching the Uchiha he detested with a passion surround the jinchuuriki with candles, "to make it seem more realistic".The genjutsu, he thought privately, was already powerful enough and he didn't believe his excuse. He loathed the Uchiha for bringing him into this organization, bound to rules and other things. He couldn't stand it. So he chattered away, however petty it was, to annoy him.

Itachi just glanced up silently and went back to work. "I don't see the point, staying in the darkness long enough will drive him mad," the blond went on, not at all bothered by his silence, "or are you just sicker than I thought, hmm?" The Uchiha already had a minor illusion in effect, to keep the brat from knowing of their presence. He couldn't see, hear, smell, or otherwise sense their presence.

It was a waiting game, to watch as the mind broke itself. The blond's imagination would do all the work for them-the genjutsu was a mere catalyst, and would only be activated for the first day. By then, the sleep deprivation would set in. Paranoia would build along with the inherent fear of the dark all humans possessed.

Right now, the Uchiha was trying to stimulate a hot day. Deidara had been able to pry that much out of him.

His light blue eyes flickered to the boy sharply as he heard a moan. "He's waking up to early." the bomber could practically hear the frown, "Knocking him back out." With a sigh, he flicked a rock at his temple. It connected with a soft smack and clattered to the ground. Despite his dislike of Itachi, he had enough sense to respect superior ability.

"Hmm." He rose from his spot by the wall, disinterested in the situation. "I'm going to see what Sasori-danna is doing."

Deidara walked out, not so much as glancing at the genin.

Soon after, Itachi stepped out. He could feel the summons coming from the ring; it burned and constricted around his finger. Someone was eager to see him. His fingernails tingled; and electric current seemed to pulse through his hand, and he thought sparks might leap from his finger-tips. The motivation, for indeed that's what it was, spurred him on-there was an unusual sense of urgency in this request.

Itachi formed a handsign and the stone groaned a bit as it came together, locking the boy in it's prison. Purposefully he strode through the halls, having the warren of halls memorized. If he so wished, he was capable of navigating my memory alone with his sight cut off from him.

Moments later, he came to another, seemingly plain, stone wall. Several things gave it away to the Akatsuki member though; one spot was unusually smooth compared to the rough stone, and there were five subtle indents arranged in the pattern of fingertips. Blinking, and pausing, for no reason apparent to anyone but himself (perhaps for confirmation?), Itachi raised his left hand and pressed his fingers against the wall. He gathered his chakra and then pushed, expelling the energy into the wall. Lines began to appear on the wall, as if drawn by an invisible artist, and glowed with a white light so out of place in this cave of death.

Like rays of light from heaven shining in to the darkest pits of hell.

Itachi chuckled; he was being rather melodramatic today. Poetic even.

If anyone other than Kisame witnessed it, they probably would've freaked out (read: had a mental break down) as they were of a lesser Uchiha vaguely wondered what caused people to buy into the idea that the reserved Uchiha laughing or otherwise expressing a positive emotion meant the end of the world as he waited for Pein to let him in.

Then again he also had a strange streak that revelled in the fact that he had the power to break such weak pathetic minds by simply laughing at a joke.

Oh the joy.

Itachi didn't do exclamation points. They weren't shinobi enough.

The light cut off abruptly and suddenly everything was much, much darker and serious; all light thoughts of amusement fled. Pein had called and it was time to report to duty.

He heard a crack as the rock split. Shuddering, the gaping hole grew bigger, and he slipped through the yawning stone before it melded back together.

Those eyes were all that were visible; the grey ringed iris's glowed faintly. Pein's numerous silver and black studs glinted sinisterly. Piercings were his thing. Idly, Itachi wondered what would happen if Pein came across a magnet. Would they all rip out, leaving him disfigured? Would he die, suffering a long-drawn out death? Morbidly he picuted the outcome of such a meeting: skin torn off, crusted blood and nasty scabs, and exposed muscle.

Or the magnet would simply stick, and Pein would be on his merry way.

Fully intact.

"I see you heard my summons. Always so swift to follow orders." He complimented. The praise came from his mouth lightly without much thought. "I need you to bring Zetsu."

Questions arose in the Uchiha's mind quickly. Anytime a new piece of information this tended to happen.

As if sensing Itachi's curiosity he added, "We need to dispose of someone," by way of explanation.

"Of course." He murmured. Who had outlived their usefulness? Or who had unwittingly stumbled into something they shouldn't have, signing their own death warrant?

Not that it mattered. Not much mattered these days.

As Itachi turned to re-enter the hall, Pein spoke up. "Oh, and check on the jinchuuriki will you?" He said it flippantly, rather casual. Sometimes it still gave Itachi the chills. The fact that jinchuuriki could be spoken of so freely spooked him. Reminded him of Konoha, triggering memories of his ANBU days. Killing, which he still did. And protecting..protecting a young blond with a fake smile and a demon inside him. The complete opposite of what he did now.

So unlike those days, when he was something to be proud of. When even uttering "Kyuubi" was a cause for death or worse. When..when..

'Sasuke.' When being a big brother was his only duty.

---

Feeling oddly un-Itachi like three days passed before he decided to give the blond some water. Compassion and mercy hadn't really been his thing. Any act of kindness had been harshly beat out by his training. However, Pein's comment had sparked something with him. Something close to feeling human again, though guilt plagued him. Emotions weren't worth feeling like an abomination.

Monster.

He indulged his conscious, (though he knew it would only feed the problem, and undermine all of his hard work) and brought the genin some water.

Secretly of course. He had no intention of getting caught.

But perhaps the gods didn't like that; Itachi wasn't meant to be a good guy after all. As luck would have it, Hidan of all people caught him skulking.

"Hey. What the fuck are you doing up this late?" The Jashinist seemed suspicious and already held a grudge against the crow user from interfering in a past battle. He hadn't allowed Hidan to complete his kill. The silver-haired brat had been trying to get him in trouble ever since.

Damn rat.

He hated tattle-tales.

"Work for Leader-sama. Or would you like to question him?" The excuse had no weight if Hidan decided to check it. However he was hesitant to call Itachi's bluff. Despite his young age, the Uchiha was considered one of the higher-ups of the nine that made up the inner circle. And he was privileged enough to know Leader-sama's real name and had the shark-man for a partner.

"Tch. Whatever. Quit being so fucking loud though, will you? Some people actually want some sleep, yeah?" He decided to let it go; it wasn't worth it if he really was on official business.

That didn't stop him from glaring.

Try as he might, Itachi didn't burst into flames.

Still, now he was unable to go through with it. It had killed his resolve. Itachi would wait til the morning; that was when he was actually supposed to check up on the brat.

But..

He supposed a small light show couldn't hurt.

---

The dawn had come, and Itachi did his orders properly. The right way. It was silly to think just because some idle words had stirred a memory, that kind actions had any value. There was no point to him giving Naruto the water ten hours early. He could wait it out. Patience was the skill of a true shinobi after all.

_Stop rambling_. He ordered to himself sharply.

Kisame had just returned from a solo mission, killing off the leader of a village that opposed the Akatsuki and Itachi knew he would want to spill the details to someone. Sit, listen attentively. He could do that much. It didn't require talking really; Kisame didn't expect any comments or remarks. The loudmouths of Akatsuki (Deidara and Hidan) could do that.

Coincidentally it was also the day of Akatsuki's annual tournament. Not of battles, but of wit and challenges from rock paper scissors to the legendary truth or dare.

Many memories were made. Such as seeing what Konan really had under her cloak, to Pein giving someone a new piercing.

The entire event culminated with the poker tournament that literally ran from dusk til dawn until a winner was declared.

Consequently, this was how five of the Akatsuki members lost their virginity.

Itachi made his way to the kitchen, seeking a blueberry muffin, and made any thoughts of the previous night disappear.

Redemption was a stupid idea anyway.

On his way, he passed Sasori, and dipped his head in acknowledgement. For all his skill, the red-head had much more invaluable experience and no real mind to dupe. Thus he was a tricky and respectable opponent. He was also inclined to silence as was he. Peas in a pod, if possible among a group of S-class traitors.

The puppeteer blinked, and that was enough in Itachian. Sasorian was a language close enough to it that the pair understood each other.

'Going to the kitchen?' Or at least, he asked something that could be equated to that with his body language.

'Nah' Sasori replied by continuing on his un-youthful way down the corridor to his room.

Itachi watched him shuffle off with little interest and continued on. If he didn't get sustenance soon his stomach would be rumbling, and the Uchiha would be irritable. He could deal with hunger on the field but saw no use in denying himself while at rest at the base.

He walked straight into the kitchen. Unlike the other rooms that were sealed off, the kitchen was simply an open cavern given decoration and easy access. Several throw rugs (all clashing terribly) covered the ground, a mix of bright flaming red, a dark forest green, woody brown, and light blue. Going barefoot was a must here; one of the unwritten rules was discarding shoes in rooms that actually had covered floors. It was a novel sensation, soft, instead of hard and rocky, and no one wanted to face Konan's wrath if they were ruined.

Kakuzu would be pissed as hell, but that's because he was stingy.

A elegant table that looked so out of place dominated the room. It was in the center, where the Akatsuki gather to eat or exchange information (gossip), and surrounded by a rag tag ensemble of chairs and stools. Some in better shape than others.

Fried bat was being served today. Along with orange-juice, coffee, water, and sake, rice and eggs were also on the menu. The delectable muffins weren't finished cooking yet, but Itachi could smell the heavenly aroma.

Kisame was already lounging at the table, Samehade leaning against the wall (Itachi had never seen the kiri-nuke-nin go anywhere without it), biting into bat-on-the stick. Zetsu was absent (probably digesting the little girl and town major he'd recently gorged on) but no one filled his space. No one ever "scooted over" if it was empty. Hidan looked up from his conversation (bickering) with Kakuzu and scowled at him, as was mandatory. Kakuzu looked over to see the distraction, and soon everyone was looking at the weasel. Konan smiled prettily, arm wrapped around Pein, while Deidara joined in the glare-fest.

Itachi ignored the glares as they were mandatory (the day it didn't happen, Itachi would probably turn the opposite of insane..and normal), and nodded at Konan and Zetsu. He made eye contact with Pein, and then made his way to the table, gliding over the rugs.

"Hey, want a bat?" Kisame offered, noticing his partner, but not wanting to bother until after his "greeting" routine was done. The two had known each other a long time.

Itachi shook his head. "No thank-you." Polite as always. _(-..the perfect little soldier-) _

"Waiting for Sasori's muffins, eh?" The shark man asked in amusement.

Deidara ripped off a hunk of egg, chewing noisily. "Hope he poisons them one day, un."

Itachi sat on the bright plastic child's chair. The irony was lost on him strangely enough. Perhaps he hadn't been a child long enough to get it. He hummed quietly, the soft tune coming suddenly. The Uchiha didn't waste his inspiration and composed an entire melody and started on the harmony completely ignoring the other occupents of the room as he waited for his muffins to arrive. Kisame would tell him if he missed anything of interest.

"Tch. Would be a waste of poison and money."

Kakuzu's comment set his partner off.

"There are somethings that are worth more than money!" Hidan shouted, red-faced. Whether flushed from anger, or because he had taken up Zetsu on that bet and lost, and downed several cups of sake, no one really knew. "Somethings always to expensive! Don't break it or we'll have ..have to buy it!" Now his speech was slurring.

"Everything in this world revolves around money, brat." Everyone else watched in detatched interest as the verbal sparring match went on. And Hidan was losing. Badly.

Which made it all the more entertaining as he spluttered drunkenly.

"Money isn't the key to immortality! Deaf iz! An' c..carn-nage." Hidan blinked, trying to remember his train of thought. "Blood is all the payment needed..needed for Jashin-sama!"

"You're an idiot." Kakuzu declared, tired of the subject. He dropped it and hoped to steer the conversation elsewhere. "My bounty was raised by a thousand ryo!" He boasted, full of ego.

"In what country?" Deidara retorted, quickly jumping on the topic. "That backwater village your from, hmm?"

"I left that village a long time ago. You didn't even do anything amazing from what I hear. Just blew up things like and idiot until Itachi caught you." Kakuzu said smoothly, not raising to the bate at all.

"Art! It's a form of art!" He exclaimed, banging his hand against the table. Several plates jumped. "Something an uncultured and highly uncreative person like you wouldn't understand."

Itachi saw Konan leave Pein's embrace to take the muffins out. She set the pan on the stone counter, waiting for them to cool. Steam rose slowly, and the fresh smell grew stronger. He missed Kakuzu's answer, though he saw Deidara leap up, so it must have been a good point. The self-proclaimed artist was so damn excitable. From there, the situation would (predictably) dissolve into chaos.

Insults and skewers flew.

Without Sasori to reign him in, Deidara was a terror in his own right, and Zetsu kept anyone in line. Pein, of course was the leader but secretly found Hidan and Deidara's squabbling amusing.

Konan cleared her throat, "Anyway, what happened on your mission?" She asked, prompting the shark user. Being the sole girl in the organization didn't dampen her gossiping instinct in the least; if anything it compounded it. The blue-haired female leaned forward slightly, conveying her interest in the juicy details.

Kisame grinned. Itachi could see a piece of meat stuck between his sharp pearly teeth. "It went pretty well; the guy in charge of the village was just a plain old civilian." The Uchiha decided he wouldn't inform the swordsman about the food until later. "His guards, however, were a bit more challenging."

"A-class?"

He shook his head at Konan's question. "Chuunin at best. Like I said, it was a smooth job. Samehade got lots of quality chakra though." Kisame told them, clearly pleased. His sword, and her happiness meant a lot to him. It was a source of pride. Itachi privately wondered how he could invest so much emotional atatchment to a tool. But it was a beautiful instrument of death, and got the job done, so he couldn't complain.

Results were what mattered.

"How many?" No one needed to know what Konan meant when she asked that. She was asking for the number of people he'd killed.

Itachi took a bite of the glorious muffin. He preferred to enjoy his breakfast and let Konan do the talking for him. It practically melted in his mouth, and then the sweetness of the berry's hit his tongue.

Yum.

"Eh. Counting the guards?" Kisame said in a bored tone. Konan nodded quickly. He paused momentarily in thought. "I'd say seven."

Pein frowned and finally contributed to the conversation. "My sources told me there were four guards. Counting the intended target, five." He wasn't angry at the deaths, merely upset that he'd been given incorrect facts. He didn't need any holes in his intricate web.

His amusement was evident as he reassured his leader. "Your spy wasn't wrong. I civvie got in the way and I killed a cat."

"Why a cat?" Kakuzu chipped in.

"Because it saw me killing them. Can't leave any witnesses." He said innocently.

Deidara joined Kisame as he threw his head back in laughter.

After all, slaughter and laughter were separated only by one letter.

---

A day had passed, and Pein told him to check on the prisoner. His new orders were to check on the jinchuuriki daily until a week had passed.

This was the fourth day so he was already half-way through. Just three more days.

When he poked his head in, the brat was in a rare moment of lucidness. Itachi could tell because instead of an oppressive silence or meaningless mumbling, he was staring straight ahead.

But it was too dark, he knew, for the kid to make out his figure from where he stood in the shadows.

"Is this a nightmare?" The jinchuuriki he asked softly. His voice was rough and slurred from disuse and screaming.

Then the blond's face contorted into pure hatred, and Itachi wondered if he had given himself away.

But no, those blue eyes weren't glaring at him, just staring off into space, at a random piece of wall.

"Oh, if only you knew." He murmured, chuckling in amusement.

The blond whipped his head around, looking for the source of the noise.

But by then, Itachi had left, and the cave was sealed off once again.

He left the boy to his muttering, and let the stress break his mind bit by bit.

---

Itachi never thought he would want to kill someone.

Some darker part of him craved blood. But want was different from need.

He was cooped up. It was day five, and he still had two more days! Itachi knew and recognized that fact. However, being confined to the base was making him antsy.

Combine that with a brilliant mind that needed mystery, information or any type of stimuli, boredom was dangerous. He swore he felt himself growing stupider by the hour.

The Uchiha's mind was shriveling; wasting away. It horrified him to think he couldn't think of anymore adjectives to describe the situation.

Just focus. Focus on the mission. He continued chanting. All the Uchiha had to do was keep the mantra going.

The multi-tasking kept his brain busy and it's imminent doom at bay.

Despite that, a bit of ire leaked through. The boy's damn effrontery. Logically, he knew it wasn't the jinchuuriki's fault..not really _(even if he was too weak. weakness was horrid. if he wasn't weak he wouldnt' have been captured. wouldn't have had his identity dissolved) _Itachi just wanted to take it out on someone. Pein and his idiotic plan was to blame.

It wouldn't do to anger a superior, though, so he channelled his indignation to the part of his brain reserved to thinking about the boy and let it fester.

His irritation must have leaked through as he opened the chamber, for the rock came away with a **_crack!_**

Within a split second, Itachi realized something: the brat was awake. Immediately his Sharingan eye activated, and thrust the boy back into his mind. He let a bit of his hatred and anger though, letting the jinchuuriki immerse into the abyss. For a moment the boy sunk into chaos and his body shuddered in spite of his weak state.

One of Itachi's orders had been to deprive the kid of food.

The shinobi abstained from taking relish in the starvation, but found a vindictive justice that they were both, in a way, deprived of what they need to survive.

A smile crept onto his stormy visage.

He then turned and left, to regain his composure.

---

Itachi scowled; he had a headache.

For the past hour the jinchuuriki had been screaming and screaming. The yowls little resembled a human's, and he supposed that was a good thing. Pein had wanted the brat to be driven mad. Desparation. Revulsion. Fear. He could hear every emotion that came pouring out from the howls. Even unshed tears.

Nothing was being done to calm him.

Sasori had gone to voice his (and everyone elses) complaints, and all he was told was to put someone outside the door.

Itachi was the lucky monitor.

If only he would shut up!

Things he thought were locked away, deeper than a key or pickpocket could ever go. He supposed, later on, that it had been a mistake to destroy the meddlesome things in the first place.

Memories. Ugly things.

_(why?! why?! *a sob, a child's scream* Mommy! Wake up mo-)_

_---_

He shouldn't be doing this. It was going against all the rules.

But he was going to! He couldn't contain this urge.

Itachi, thrust the rock cavern open, leaving it half open in his haste. He was going to show the brat! Wake him up and see where he really was.

"Your eyes should be open to your reality, after all."

For the first time in years, he had done someone a favor.

And with cruel intentions.

---

He nursed the wound on his stomach. The bruising would stay for days. Pein had been angry when he found out the kid had been waken up.

Harshly, he mandated Itachi put him back into his illusion, after breaking three ribs and a fist sized bruise.

"That was stupid." Kisame said seriously.

The two were in their quarters. Itachi didn't wish to share what had happened with anyone else. He would be a laughingstock for weeks.

It was childish, but the answer came tumbling out before he could stop himself. "I don't care."

---

Words: 5, 478

Hell yeah! Hit 5k again. Not that tired lol. Going to region band tryouts tomorrow, and probably gonna suck. It's gonna take all Saturday. :( And then Sunday we have our Christmas concert. Busy, band-filled weekend..yeah. This is probably my last update for 2009! I might get in one more chapter, but don't expect anything. Merry Christmas!

Oh, go read "Cherry Blossom Witch" it's pretty good. Updates daily.

12/11/09


	16. Glomps and Talking

Dammit…I gave in. Here is the last chapter of 2009! It's literally 12 pages long.. Merry Christmas!

--Chapter 16: Glomps and Talking

Kisame was in a very strange situation.

He had been witness to very strange things; vile experiments ordered by the Mizukage on prisoners unlucky and unskilled enough to be captured in battle or Kiri citizens that had put a toe out of line or simply been born into a bloodline clan. Any lesser being would probably puke and scream at the images that haunted his consciousness.

Itachi would probably laugh.

Or at least give the equivalent of laugh and snort, letting an amused light enter his onyx eyes.

Akatsuki, naturally, was a host to odd places and events. Their experiments weren't on par with the Mizukage's cruelness or Orochimaru's level of pure disturbing, but the bodies were pretty gross.

In fact, if he so wished, Kisame thought he could write a book about such weird occurrences.

He didn't know of many other shinobi that wrote though, barring Jiraiya, but his books were full of porn and sappy romance and overused clichés. In other words, perfect for the masses-particularly young or old lonely men. Kisame hadn't heard of a ninja publishing a horror story.

Most biographies were glossed over because so many things were confidential.

Curled around him was a dragon!

Growing up in Kiri, he had naturally heard tales of scaled serpents that dwelled in the seas, causing storms. They were rumored to be able to fly and have a palace beneath the ocean, deep down. Brave warriors were either sent to slay them and rescue a maiden that had been spirited away, steal a bit of the dragon's treasure, or sent as an envoy. Dragons used to respond to pleas, given enough motivation or offered enough gold and jewels.

Or so the stories said.

Her scales, for indeed he had discovered quickly it was a she, were white-silver like before, but not as he remembered them. They didn't hold the same "sheen" and were of duller quality. Some had darkened around the edges. Her scales felt dry, hard, and rough; he could feel them easily enough-she was coiled around him, almost affectionately. She took up the space of the entire room, and several things had been knocked over and smashed.

Driven silver eyes drank him in; Kisame felt like it was a bit disconcerting- her scrutiny didn't last long and her eyes calmed, but something lurked beneath that he might call insanity. She continued to stare though. He noticed they weren't completely silver. Around her pupils (black and slit like a cat) the iris was a brilliant blue like the sky when the sun was out and few clouds blocked the view and only the outer edge was the strange silver.

When she first burst in, he had completely lost composure and gaped like a fish and had only been able to stammer, "You…You..." over and over for six minutes.

This was the exact same dragon he Itachi and the brat had encountered in the plains on the way back the base.

He just knew it, as corny as it sounded, all the way down to his soul. It was a deep journey, but it indeed was there, and full of recognition of the beast.

By now he had calmed down enough (was it even possible to be calm in this situation? He could feel the muscles rippling beneath her scaly armor.) to gain face and start using his brain again. First he'd commanded his body to stop being so stiff and gaping.

Then he set out on another important task: thinking.

The dragon wasn't leaving, obviously, and Kisame didn't think he could make it.

"Keilan." He stopped the imminent jerk and only twitched slightly. Where had the voice come from? Blinking in disbelief, he deducted it must have come from the dragon.

No one else was in the room with him.

"Keilan," she repeated, and this time saw her blinking. He didn't know exactly how she was communicating. Kisame didn't see her snout move, but it clearly didn't sound or feel like telepathy. He just dismissed it and figured it would be better for his mental health if he didn't ponder over the impossibilities of it, and just accepted that it happened. "..my name."

O...oh. Okay. So her name was Keilan. 'And the dragon is talking to me.'

"Kisame." He swore that he didn't squeak. Kisame cleared his throat and said more loudly, "I'm Kisame."

Now what?

---

Naruto wanted to ask where they were going.

Then again, he didn't really care. The point was that he was being included. He couldn't be a pest to the person that had saved him.

Even if he was the one that put him in there in the first place.

Itachi didn't slow down for his weakness. He kept going at a steady pace, turning sharply every now and then. To compensate, the blond half crawled at times, leaning against the wall. He hopped to keep from losing momentum. His muscles were weak and burned.

He kept going anyway.

Once he lost balance. He stifled a small cry (he wasn't weak! not anymore!) as his knees banged against the rock painfully and he skinned his elbows and palms. Naruto attempted to push himself up, and his arms trembled with the effort. The blond feel again and yelped this time-Itachi was nearly out of sight! There was no time to waste, trying to get up! Naruto scrambled awkwardly on the ground. He clawed, not noticing the pain as his fingernails bled from the rocks.

Like a snake he wriggled and hit a small rock.

Itachi had just passed a corner!

With renewed will, he used the rock to help himself stand and then ran awkwardly. It was like one of his legs was numb; it was useless and only slowed him down! Naruto limped and staggered as fast as possible but was careful not to fall again. As he rounded the corner relief filled him-for whatever reason Itachi had stopped and was only ten feet away.

Naruto could make it before he set out again!

It was all a race; he had to do as much as he could to gain favor before Itachi changed his mind.

The blond didn't want to go back. He would be useful!

For once, luck (_good _luck) was on his side. Itachi remained where he stood until Naruto made it over to his side, and nearly fell into him. Naruto kept his balance though and looked at the Uchiha eagerly. He didn't want to push his luck by crashing into him.

Cold. If he had retained any sense of how things should be, it would have chilled him. Mentors weren't supposed to gaze at their pupils like that. But Naruto was just grateful to be taken out of that horrid pit. Being stuck in there had given him lots of time to think.

He wasn't sure he liked Konoha anymore.

It didn't really matter though, really. Konoha hadn't rescued him, or sent any forces out to do so, as far as he was aware. Not all the citizens had been kind. Naruto would figure out later that he thirsted for a sense of justice. Most would call it revenge. Payback. He preferred to think of it as restoring the balance. The citizens of Konoha were reaping what they sowed and would experience karmatic vengeance.

It was only fitting to be an underling of someone who specialized in revenge.

Itachi cultivated anger as a farmer grew crops.

The look on his face didn't bother him at all. Why should Naruto be disturbed? If Itachi had merely released him on a whim, he doubted he would be alive right now. The blond would be dead. Or maybe he really didn't just randomly decide to release him.

Naruto didn't understand the game he was in.

His eyes gazed without seeing. It applied to both of him. Naruto, in his madness blind. Itachi just unfeeling, cut off and seeing a tool.

Itachi's lip might have curled in disdain, but then again, it could have been a trick of the light.

"Leader-sama wishes to speak with you."

Naruto's eyes widened. An honor! But also disturbing. Someone greater that Itachi deferred to? More powerful than the one who first cast him into terror and then released him from it? It shook his shortly formed world view a bit more.

Akatsuki would have to be careful. They couldn't afford to shatter it one more time. Already a crack had formed.

Attempting to still his trembling, he nodded, only able to emit speechless rasping. _"Y..yes."_ he tried to say. Naruto jumped when he felt a hand on his back. _'Itachi?'_ he wondered before the hand pushed him, hard. He was shoved into darkness and thrust his hands out to break his fall.

Disoriented, the blond looked up from where he was on his hands and knees as a burning light quickly came on. Blinking rapidly, his eyes adjusted after a few moments of seeing spots.

Like the rest of the place, there was rock everywhere. You couldn't escape it in a cave. It was brownish red and reminded him oddly of dried blood. The shadows it cast in the light were eerie.

Sitting on what must have been a stone thrown (what else would such a powerful person sit on?) was someone he vaguely recognized. It was a man dressed in a black cloak with red clouds stitched on it, like everyone else here with orange hair. Along with the silver and black piercings it set off a memory in Naruto's mind.

"Pein." He murmured. Then he quickly snapped his jaw shut in horror. Naruto hadn't meant to say that aloud! The time in solitary confinement left him more often than not thinking out loud. There was no one to be bothered by it and it was a comfort to hear some kind of voice.

But benevolently, the leader forgave his lapse. "Relax child and please stand."

The blond did as he was heeded, unable to resist the quiet commanding voice. It rung with authority and a strange kindness he couldn't understand. Self-consciously he wiped his hands on his tattered pants.

Did he say anything? Was that what he wanted? Torn by questions he could only stand silently sweating bullets. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer! Naruto couldn't bear any silence, especially now after his ordeal.

"I..." he licked his lips. Naruto didn't recognize his voice which was almost a guttural growl. "I..why am I here?" The blond finally stammered. "What do you want with me?"

A beat. For a moment Pein said nothing. The only indication that he heard something was his contemplative look. "I will be frank. Our original intentions had nothing to do with you. Rather, what resided inside of you. Now that isn't' possible." He didn't elaborate further. "Tell me, jinchuuriki what do you think of the world? What do you know of war, peace..pain?"

His words held a deeper meaning; of that much the blond was sure. Naruto felt as if his answer would determine the rest of his future. What course his life took depended upon if he passed the test.

Pain. He knew lot's of things about pain. Like how terrible it was. His childhood was a hellish nightmare, and the pain was a constant companion, never ending. Worse than any physical abuse (though he was occasionally roughed up by bullies) was his treatment as a ghost. It was like he was invisible. Sometimes, he thought that it wasn't the villagers that were wrong, it was him. Clearly that had to be the case; once when he was younger, the blond thought he wasn't real.

"War.." he murmured, musing aloud. Naruto tried to compose himself, and hide his nervousness at failing the test. He rambled anyway. "It was before my time. I knew fighting broke out but I wasn't born yet. They say people die for glory." The blond blinked. "I saw someone die once."

"I see."

Taking that as encouragement, the genin continued with his tale. "Blood…I thought it would be everywhere, ya know? But it wasn't. Not like the corpses of the Uchiha. His eyes just got real big, like he was scared or something, and then his face just froze. He fell down and I saw the kunai in his back..it was hardly bleeding. ..An' then he fell down." His throat was starting to hurt. He took a deep breath, but if anything it made the itching-pain worse. "I went up for a closer look…his body wasn't all stiff yet. I touched him and he was still warm…but his face wasn't like dead people are supposed to look."

Naruto stopped, and refused to elaborate further. He'd been nine at the time.

"Really now? How are the dead supposed to look then? Hmm." It didn't look like Pein was really talking to him. More like to himself. The blond wasn't sure if he should just answer anyway.

Pein gestured to him absently. "I will talk to you later. Go."

Anyone could see the blatant dismissal. The blond nodded automatically and got up awkwardly; his legs were still cursedly weak. His body had seen ill effects due to his confinement.

Painfully slowly he shuffled out.

'Now where am I going to go?' He thought a bit panicked when he realized he was alone, and that he couldn't see anything. "No…no." He muttered under his breath. The blond hugged himself and fell to the ground, huddling in the corner.

Naruto didn't know how long he stayed like that, pathetic and cowardly sitting in the hallway. Eventually he reigned in his terror and made himself get up again.

He had to keep moving. If he just found someone again…

It only seemed logical to find Itachi.

It was all his fault anyway.

_'Really? Or is it your fault for being so weak?'_

He froze.

Naruto thought that the voice gone.

"I don't wanna talk to you." The blond received no reply. _'Maybe that was just me thinking.'_ It was scary to think that he was so alien to himself that he didn't know his own thoughts.

Naruto didn't really know what he to do, and continued to wander the corridor. He made his way through sheer will. The stubbornness came in handy after all. Eventually his body would give out and plunge him into darkness; he knew that but didn't want to think about that.

Nightmares would be sure to follow.

By now he was crawling. Really, logic followed that he should stop and rest. Everyone knew your body needed to restore itself and recover. But some part of him was convinced he had to keep coming, lest _they_ catch up. Naruto wasn't even sure what he was afraid of.

None the less, fear as well as partial insanity was a great motivator.

That was okay though; fear didn't have to make sense.

Naruto tripped and felt his body succumb to exhaustion. What happened to all his stamina? Before it seemed as if he had limitless energy and was the blond hyperactivemore than anything. Now nothing made sense.

Which was why he refused think about it.

The rocks cut into his body. Nothing major, just small cuts and scrapes; it was uncomfortable laying on them though. Naruto focused on his discomfort despite the fact, staving off another panic attack.

Someone would find him, eventually.

---

"Father..." he approached cautiously, for fear of his life. Although he wasn't quick to anger, once enraged his temper was a sight to behold.

Both of them had adopted physical bodies rather than communicate in spirit form. His claws clacked on the white stone floor. It was polished and gleamed; if he looked closely he could see his own scaly face and horns.

No real walls existed around them, for they were dragon's of the sky and so should their dwelling be. Unlike their cousins of the sea who had a palace and a habit of kidnapping human maiden's to make wives or servants of them.

Clouds swirled about, hiding them from the sight of humans in spite of it being nearly impossible to be seen at this height. Only fellow creatures of magic or great birds of prey saw them.

He and his father lived here and so had his mother, but now...it pained him to think of her demise. The loss had been a hard blow to everyone. And now his sister… _'It's all her fault. If only she hadn't run off and broken the sacred laws.' _He thought bitterly.

Despite her current status of a traitor, he loved her. She was family and logic couldn't crush that fact.

"Not only did she dare take my form…but she now is in the company of a human." Anger and disgust mingled. When the queen of all things had spoken and said to watch the small party of humans, he never would have imagined one of the consequences being this.

Shame coursed through his vein's for Keilan for he knew she would not feel it.

_'Idiot hatchling.'_ He couldn't summon feelings of betrayal, only affection.

Every bit of his father screamed of tension and rage. His eyes flashed and were a furious dark grey, like storm clouds. A gale would soon be unleashed if he wasn't careful.

"You forgive her too easily. Even before this she had committed many crimes." His words were harsh and cut to the quick. He knew that his sister had done terrible things; stealing faces wasn't forgivable and neither was causing the destruction of a shrine.

But how could he side with her? Becoming a rebel would only mean death. A true one. His love for her warred with the hate he felt for her crimes. Truly Keilan could incite passion within anyone. Normally they were such calm beings and agents of nature.

"I know, Father." For what else could he say? Anything else would be a lie. His eyes were downcast and he caught his reflection: dark black scales and fierce yellow eyes. He looked more like a dragon of darkness rather than a sky spirit.

---

Jiraiya would face an onslaught of chaos when he returned to Konoha.

First and foremost, the remnants of team 7 were hit hard by the news. Hiashi and Kakashi were sharing the duties of active kage until Jiraiya returned with or without Tsunade. In the latter case Jiraiya would be bound by his oath to take office.

So naturally, they were the first in Konoha to receive news of Naruto's apparent kidnapping by the Akatsuki.

Hiashi was troubled; though loud and an annoyance more than a real ninja the blond was a valuable asset in the power he held. Properly trained he would be devastated. Objectively it was a matter of security that he must be returned! On a personal note he felt the he himself and the Hyuuga clan as a whole owed the boy a debt. Hinata had been inspired by him to train more vigorously and Neji, his nephew no longer held onto his bitterness and was able to resume his duties as Hinata's protector without any resentment.

Kakashi had paled, and in a moment of unprofessionalism bolted, heading to the Memorial Stone.

People he cared about got hurt.

That was a fact; one only needed to look at his broken past filled with death to deduce that. First his mother, then father and Obito's reckless sacrifice. He'd been unable to do his job and Rin had paid for it. Lastly his sensei was dead.

He failed them all. He had failed his team. Kakashi couldn't even guard over one of his small family member's properly! Though the ex-ANBU had denied it, for fear of heart-breaking moments like this, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were like a family to him.

Tears had been shed.

Though he never told anyone, all three of the genin were marked down as his next of kin should anything happen to him on a mission.

Once he gained control of himself and regained composure he'd bowed to the Memorial and then set out to find Sasuke and Sakura. His team needed to be informed. This involved them directly after all.

He trusted Hiashi to hand to shinobi aspect of this. Though haughty, he wasn't a bigot in such matters of this. Let him call the meeting. Set up a search and rescue. Kakashi would be the first one aboard. He wondered if Sasuke and Sakura would be vying to be put on the mission right behind him.

"What is it sensei?" Ah, of course. Sakura was always first. She was the one that asked questions. Always. Her face was filled with confusion and new tough edge that hadn't been there before the invasion.

Sasuke was frowning slightly, as if anticipating bad news.

"There is no easy way of putting this." This put Sakura on edge and only made Sasuke (who was already on edge) warier. "Naruto is missing."

"What?" Kakashi felt sympathy for her. Sakura had a look of shock and a bit of horror. "First mom...now Naruto?" Her mother had disappeared during the invasion. She was merely a civilian, but kind and well ready. Kaede Haruno was presumed dead.

She sat down, hard and stiff. Deep thought had taken over her face.

Sasuke in his own way was upset. The clenched fists and subtle tension gave him away.

"Who?" Sasuke asked curtly.

"It's believed that he was kidnapped." Kakashi said cautiously.

"What? Why..? Who would want…want to kidnap that idiot?" The insult was filled with fondness. Whether she wanted to admit it, they were friends_. Both of them_ were her boys.

_"Who?"_ The Uchiha repeated, louder this time. This time to anger was clear in his voice. Someone was going to get hurt.

Kakashi knew the blow up was coming. It was made infinitely worse, because he knew who had done it and Sasuke would personally tear him apart. He knew it would be impossible now to dissuade the raven from his quest of vengeance.

"Akatsuki." Puzzlement filled the two genin's faces at the foreign name. "They are a group of criminals…and your brother is a part of it."

Shock. Anger. Rage. Wrath.

_"Itachi!"_ he hissed. First his mother, father…he'd destroyed his family. Now his best friend? Could Sasuke not grow close to someone without having them get hurt? Was his brother that bent on his misery that any family or close bonds he made were to be torn apart?

Sakura was almost more alarmed by the darkness that overcame her crush's face. But the news pushed back the scary, feral look Sasuke-kun had adopted. It was like a sucker punch. That idiot, captured by some crazy evil organization? Sakura knew the world wasn't split into good guys and bad guys, heroes and villains, but it sure felt like it right now.

"Why?" She asked, not really wanting the answer. But someone had to ask; Sasuke-kun seemed beyond reasoning in his current state. To her surprise, her voice broke when she spoke.

Kakashi sighed. "The secret isn't mine to tell." He muttered under his breath. But a flimsy excuse wouldn't satisfy his team. Technically as acting kage, he had the right to tell them…

Sasuke snapped and roaring lunged at Kakashi. Sakura, still stunned said nothing, but that was when tears of her own started pouring. "SHUT UP!" Angrily he grabbed his sensei's flak jacket. Unable to deal with his emotions, he snarled and struggled when Kakashi grabbed his wrists.

He continued to struggle and lash out, while Sakura cried in the background.

They were both upset and were showing it in their own way.

Sasuke expected a reprimand of "Calm down." and was planning to ignore it.

That didn't happen.

Instead, Kakashi pulled him closer and into a hug. That made his anger spike. "I don't want to be comforted!" he stiffened and tried to kick Kakashi on the shin to no avail. "I don't want to be lied to and told "It'll be alright."! Because it won't be!"

Another unexpected thing happened.

Kakashi nodded. "I know Sasuke. I know it hurts." That was when Sasuke returned the hug and tears came despite him willing them away. Sakura looked so lost and confused on the ground, like she didn't know what to do. "Come here Sakura." Kakashi ordered softly.

It was the team's first group hug.

And Naruto wasn't even here to witness it or tease them about it. The irony wasn't lost on Kakashi, who remembered how he'd pushed the blond away (glomps were scary!) saying he didn't want to get slobber all over his vest.

"D..damn it." Sakura cursed softly. It came as a bit of surprise; usually she wasn't inclined to be foul-mouthed.

Then again, none of the team usually expressed themselves in such a dramatic way.

They understood though, somewhat. Sakura was upset, just like the rest of them. Sasuke could relate to frustration and anger and hurt. Kakashi knew what it was like to lose a teammate, one you didn't even like, that ended up being a cornerstone of your world.

It almost seemed cruel to break it to them. But he didn't tell them the truth of Naruto's jinchuuriki yet. That could come later. Right now, they were all working out there grief.

Kakashi never knew what it was like to be fatherly. Yes, they were like kin to him, but he preferred to think of himself as the weird uncle or eccentric cousin. This was different and kind of nice, even though it hurt. It was scary to know that such trust was being put into him.

For a while, the trio stood like that, Kakashi in the middle, the strong one. Sasuke finally letting go and putting down all the barriers, just let himself feel grief. Sakura clutching on tight. The two genin thought they might fly away if they let go. He felt like a protector for the short space of time.

A real one, not just a guard on a mission.

No one kept track of the time, but eventually the tears dried up and though they were still upset, both Sasuke and Sakura felt as if the worst of it were gone. Sasuke felt lighter than he had in years and Sakura felt near the same but a cloud hung over the entire team now.

"There is something you should know." Kakashi started slowly. He would hate if the bond they just forged and the unspoken vow of loyalty would be broken. "The Akatsuki aren't really after Naruto."

Confusion marred both genin's faces. They were too emotionally spent to work up a racket over the revelation, and just let Kakashi continue.

"I'm probably breaking a million laws by telling you this, and might end up dead. Naruto has a powerful spirit inside him; Naruto is a jinchuuriki more commonly called a "demon jailer" and hold's the Kyuubi no Yoko within him."

"But..Naruto's not a demon." Sakura said. She didn't quite grasp what Kakashi was telling her.

"How?" was what Sasuke wanted to know.

"You're correct, he isn't." Kakashi motioned for them to sit. "Think of it as that ramen he loves to eat." A pang of sorrow hit him at the reminder, "Naruto is the bowl and the Kyuubi is the ramen. Does the ramen make the bowl ramen as well?"

"No." Both murmured.

"As for your question Sasuke, no one quite knows the full details of it. Naruto was born the night the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked the village. The Yondaime used a seal to imprison the demon within Naruto at the cost of his life." He said solemnly.

"Can Naruto use its power?"

He glanced at Sasuke. "To a limited extent." Why was it not surprising that Sasuke was concerned about using the beast rather than the horror of his teammate housing a demon-spirit?

Sakura connected the dots. "Is that what the A..Akatsuki took him for?" Another thought occurred to her. "It can't get out can it? Or..or control him?"

"Yes. No one knows there true agenda." He'd already thrown out one S-class secret, why stop there? "Obviously they want to amass a great amount of power, given Naruto's kidnapping. And don't worry Sakura, if the fox could gain control, we would already be dead by now."

That was a white lie. No one really knew what would happen if the Kyuubi found a flaw in the seal or if it cracked from stress. Kakashi didn't share that with them though; he had faith in his sensei.

"I see." It obviously put her mind at ease to be reassured by an adult.

Sasuke didn't contest what Kakashi said. Right now, his own personal safety was the farthest thing from his mind right now.

"They aren't going to let us go, are they?"

Sakura blinked and tilted her head. "Go? What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun?"

"On the mission to get Naruto back."

"You're right." Kakashi confirmed without preamble. "As much as you may wish to go, you'll only get yourself killed. These are S-class nuke-nin we're talking about."

Sakura paled. "That high level?"

Even Sasuke seemed taken aback.

"They aren't 'wanna-be's' playing at being a ninja." He turned to Sasuke. "You're brother wouldn't associated with just any riff-raff, Sasuke. I thought you would have realized that. Only high level ninja would even dare to take a jinchuuriki right under the nose of a Sannin."

"Do other villages have jinchuuriki?" Her curiosity was peaked despite the circumstances.

"Yes. They often play major roles in wars." He gave them part of the puzzle and it looked like they wanted all of the pieces now. "But they are often kept secret and are a village's ace in the whole, so to speak." Kakashi adopted a lecturing tone. "They are revered for having awesome powers and are deadly on the battle field."

The team lapsed into quiet contemplation; absorbing the facts they'd been given.

"That Gaara." Sasuke said, breaking the silence. "Was he one too?"

It made sense to him, if that indeed was the case. The crazy sand power, and the tanuki of sand he had become. Could the "mother" he kept rambling on about really have been a demon?

Kakashi wondered if he should stop at some point. _'Well, I picked a secure place for a reason.'_ "Suna has been in possession of the tanuki "Shukaku" for a while. It is fitting that they have a host to a desert spirit given where they live." It was strange and almost cold to be talking of jinchuuriki with such a casual air.

He abruptly cut himself off short. "We can speak more of this later." The jounin really should be talking tactics with other elites, not indulging his genin team. "I'll give you more news later."

Sakura and Sasuke saw they were now talking to a jounin now, not their sensei.

"Hai, sensei."

----

_Words: 5, 143_

Yeah! Wrote this in three-freakin-days! Hopefully I didn't lay it on too thick in some places.. Please let me know what you liked, or if you even hated something. Only way to get better is to fix mistakes.. Yeah, I was gonna be mean and make y'all wait til 2010..but I gave in. Did y'all like another 5k? It's getting easier to write bigger chapters-before this would have wiped me out.

12/22/09


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